I 




Glass. 
Book.. 



r~^ 



Gop)Tiglit^i 



CDPYRiGHT DEPOSOi 



THE SCHOOL 

AS A 

SOCIAL INSTITUTION 

AN INTRODUCTION TO THE STUDY OF 
SOCIAL EDUCATION 



BY 



CHARLES L.^^ROBBINS, Ph.D. 

TEACHER OF HISTORY OF EDUCATION IN THE 
NEW YORK TRAINING SCHOOL FOR TEACHERS 



o>»Co 



ALLYN AND BACON 
Boston Keto gork Cljicago 



LC 1^ 

. n Co 



COPYRIGHT. 1918, BY 
CHARLES L. ROBBINS 



PEB 231918 



Worfaool! ^ns3 

J. S. Gushing Co. — Berwick & Smith Co. 

Norwood. Mass., U.S.A. 



©CI.A492354 



^vx-i), / 



TO THE MEMORY OF 
MY FATHER 



PREFACE 

With the growing interest of the pubUe in education, and 
the wider recognition of the prime social importance of the 
work of teaching, there has been a great expansion in the 
conception of the nature and purpose of the school. What- 
ever the remote functions of this important institution have 
been considered to be, it has been, and now too often is, 
regarded merely as a place where children are given possession 
of a definitely prescribed amount of subject matter. That 
crude, though fundamental, conception has been modified 
(especially for teachers) by the force of a psychological 
movement which has emphasized the idea that it is the de- 
velopment of the child that should be the great work of the 
school. To these two conceptions the needs of our present 
life are adding a third, — that of the school as a social insti- 
tution. The demand for the emphasis of such a conception 
is found in practically all contemporary educational theory. 

The author presents this work, not as a new discovery in 
education, but rather as an attempt to describe in his own 
way the most vital present-day conceptions of what the school 
has been, is, and is becoming. While he is deeply conscious 
of his indebtedness to his fellow-workers, he does not feel 
like saddling upon any the responsibility for this work. 
However, credit is given so freely in the text that the reader 
will not be left in doubt. 

It is the purpose of this book to make available for teachers 
(actual and prospective), social workers, and citizens inter- 
ested in social problems such a survey of the school as will 
present in a brief yet moderately comprehensive manner the 

V 



vi Preface 

social significance of its educational work, its relation to 
other institutions and forces, its function as a determining 
and controlling force, its work as a protective agency, and 
its service as a community center, — not indeed compre- 
hensive enough to be dignified with the title of Educational 
Sociology, but holding about such a relationship to that 
field as Educational Psychology has to General Psychology. 

Although the school is not to be regarded as sole proprietor 
of the field of education, the author believes that the social 
conception of education will be given concreteness and 
force by being centered in the work of that institution. It 
is hoped that this will be especially true in the case of those 
young people, who, while preparing to teach, are themselves 
in school; and that the essentials of Educational Sociology 
will be made clearer and more helpful (particularly to the 
young student) by finding continual application to the work 
of a familiar institution. 

Special mention should be made of the fact that after this 
work was finished and partly in type, the author learned 
that as long ago as 1909 a book with precisely the same' 
title was projected by President Henry Suzzallo of the 
State University of Washington (then of Teachers College, 
Columbia University) ; and that he and his publishers, the 
Houghton Mifflin Company, very graciously gave their con- 
sent to the use of the title. 

C. L. R. 
January, 1918. 



TABLE OF CONTENTS 

CHAPTER I 

PAGE 

EVOLUTION OF THE IDEA OF SCHOOL AS SOCIAL 

INSTITUTION .... 1 

1. Origin of the School 1 

The growth of culture and the widening gap between 

child and adult. 
The rise of a special class in control of culture. 
The school as a class institution. 

2. Oriental Education ....... 3 

The Chinese. 

Education a means of keeping society in the old paths. 
The Jews. 

The school as the handmaid of religion. 

3. Greek Schools 7 

Rise to the level of civic education. 

The ideal of personal development. 

Types of schools. 

Special training for citizenship. 

Modification of education by changing social conditions. 

4. Roman Schools 12 

Greek models. 

Evolution of ideas of control and the beginnings of a 

state system. 

5. Schools of the Church 13 

Return to priestly domination. 
The great educational needs. 
Kinds of schools. 
Beginnings of secular schools. 

6. Influence of the Renaissance ..... 17 

New interests and new schools. 
Education for the upper classes, not for the masses, 
vii 



viii Table of Contents 

PAGE 

7. Schools of the Reformation ..... 18 

Fundamental nature of the movement. 
Educational ideals and actual practice. 
Development of state control of education. 

8. Influence of Naturalism . . . . . .20 

Conflict between democratic and aristocratic ideas. 

9. The American School 21 

Colonial conceptions. 

The transplanting of European ideas and practices. 
Conception of the school in the early national period. 

Recognition of the value of education in a democracy. 

Actual conditions. 

The transition from private to pubHc education. 
Changing conditions after the Civil War. 

Rapid changes in conditions of hfe. 

The response of the school. 

The helpful force of criticism. 

10. The Conception of the School as a Social Institu- 
tion ......... 30 

The school as a means of control through transmis- 
sion of culture. 

The training of leaders. 

The school as a national defense and a source of pros- 
perity. 

The school as an instrument of reform and social prog- 
ress. 

CHAPTER II 

THE SOCIAL IDEALS OF THE SCHOOL. . 34 

Introduction. This chapter deals with ideals and attitudes 
toward life as the product of the school 

1. The Individual and Society ..... 35 
Society a great mass of active human atoms. 
Its relationships a compromise between individualism 

and social despotism. 
The school a harmonizing force. 
The school and the welfare of society as a whole. 



Table of Contents ix 

FAQE 

2. Sociability and its_Related Virtues ... 38 

Gregariousness as a foundation. 

Fitness for companionship and intelligent social con- 
sciousness. 

The danger of mere herding in large school systems. 

Meaning of sociability. 

Development of insight and good will through educa^ 
tion. 

3. Cooperation ........ 40 

Pioneer conditions in America. 

Increased demand for cooperation in later development. 

Actual need as a basis of cooperation. 

Types of cooperation : military ; democratic. 

The school and ideals of cooperation. 

4. Tolerance ......... 46 

Lack of tolerance a barrier to progress. 
The intolerance of good people. 
Lack of tolerance in American life. 
Need of sympathy without a lowering of moral stand- 
ards. 
The outlook. 

5. Freedom ......... 48 

The attention given the doctrine since Rousseau. 
Modification of the doctrine by later theorists. 
Difficulties in defining freedom and applying it in the 
school. 

6. Responsibility : The Sense of Duty ... 52 

Freedom and responsibility. 

Need of an emphasis upon responsibility in a democ- 
racy. 
A suggestion from Athens. 
The sense of duty the essence of responsibility. 

7. Initiative 53 

The need of initiative determined by the nature of 

society. 
Neglect of initiative in formal education. 
Initiative more than mere effort. 



X Table of Contents 

PAGE 

8. Justice 55 

The sum of all social ideals. 

Its progressive development in the school. 

Summary 56 



CHAPTER III 
SOCIAL CONDITIONS WHICH CONTROL THE SCHOOL 59 
Introduction. Use of the terms Society and School 

1. The Influence op Home Life upon the School . 60 

The home very intimately connected with the school. 

The work of the school based upon home beginnings. 

Importance of the attitude of the family. 

Changing conditions of family life and new burdens 
upon the school. 

Growing consciousness of the importance of the rela- 
tionship between home and school : associations 
of parents and teachers. 

2. The Relation of the Church to the School . . 64 

Church members a large part of the population. 
Secular character of the public school. 
Reading of the Bible in schools. 
Place of rehgion in the curriculum. 
Local influence of the church upon the school. 
The churches and the training of the clergy. 
Relation of denominational control of colleges to 
academic freedom. 

3. Influence of Philanthropic Societies upon the 

School 69 

Need of outside help for school progress. 

The work of public education associations. 

Value of philanthropic organizations to the school. 

4. Influence op Business and Industrial Organiza- 

tions 73 

The growing importance of the economic factor in 
education. 



Table of Contents xi 

PAQE 

Danger that Business will assume the place once held 
by the Church. 

The place of the business man in educational admin- 
istration. 

The necessity of solving educational problems in such 
a way as to promote the welfare of society in 
general. 

5. Relation of the Civil Government to the School . 77 

Power of the State great, but limited. 

Directive function of the State. 

Nature of control : direct and indirect ; central and local. 

The present tendency. 

6. Influence of Tradition and Custom ... 81 

Meaning of the terms. 
Their influence upon the school. 

Need of subjecting custom and tradition to the scrutiny 
of reason. 

7. Influence of Public Opinion ..... 83 

A powerful but intangible force. 
Conflict between public opinion and expert advice. 
The use of public opinion to further educational ideas. 
Conflict of ideas, as illustrated in the state university. 
Need of creating public opinion favorable to public 
schools. 

8. Influence of Social Classes 86 

The presence of class lines in all kinds of societies. 

Examples of class lines in the United States. 

Illustrations of the influence of classes upon the schools. 

The wealthy class and the workers. 

Influence of the helpless or dependent. 

Effect of the presence of a large foreign element. 

9. Influence of Social Communication .... 91 

Nature of communication. 

Relation of lack of communication to static social con- 
ditions. 

Illustrations of the influence of communication upon the 
school. 



xii Table of Contents 

PAGE 

10. Influence op Social Ideals and Needs ... 93 

Needs reflected in ideals. 

The influence of changing ideals : (1) in the religious 
conception of life ; (2) in the civic ideal as seen in 
two forms ; (3) in the democratic ideal. 

Progress of the democratic ideal in schools. 



CHAPTER IV 

THE REACTION OF THE SCHOOL UPON SOCIETY 99 

Introduction. The school not merely a passive instrument, 
but a directive force 

1. The Transmission of Culture ..... 100 

The almost limitless spiritual inheritance of society. 

Selection and transmission by the school. 

Selection of material results in sifting of pupils. 

The school a determining factor in social progress. 

Use of material from the past and its relation to con- 
servatism. Transfer of burden of education from 
other institutions to school. 

2. The Advancemeijt op Learning .... 104 

Widening the bounds of knowledge. 

The vision of Francis Bacon ; its modern realization. 

Need of emphasizing social values in the advancement 

of learning. 
Scope of the work of investigation. 

3. Socializing the Individual 109 

The wealth of material at the command of the school. 
Consciousness of the social function of the school. 
Use of a variety of materials to accomplish the social 
aims of education. 

4. The Effect op the School upon Class Lines or Dis- 

tinctions ........ 112 

Individual and class differences the natural results of 

man's heredity and environment. 
The strengthening of class lines by the class school. 



Table of Contents xiii 

PAQE 

Future relationships between public and private 

schools. 
The influence of the dissemination of knowledge. 
The school and ease of shifting from class to class. 
The school and denominational lines. 
The creation of unity of spirit. 

5. The Assimilation of the Immigrant .... 119 

Importance of the problem. 

The difficulties produced by conflicting ideals, habits, 

and similar factors. 
Education of children of the immigrant the chief part of 

the process. 

6. Social Reform ........ 122 

The school an instrument of reform, especially through 

enlightenment. 
Warfare against poverty. 
The fight against vice. 
Summary 126 

CHAPTER V 

THE SCHOOL AS A PROTECTIVE AGENCY . 129 

Introduction. The conservation and protection of childhood 
one of the most important concerns of society. Various 
kinds of protective work by the school. Health super- 
vision the theme of this chapter 

1. The Need of Health Supervision .... 130 

Existence of a great amount of preventable disease. 

Resulting loss to the school. 

Special attention to health supervision. 

2. Means and Methods of Protection .... 132 

Health instruction. 
Physical training. 
Open air schools. 

Provision for feeding school children. 
Medical inspection. 
Schoolhouse sanitation. 
Summary 148 



xiv Table of Contents 

CHAPTER VI 

PAGE 

THE SCHOOL AS A SELECTIVE AGENCY : RETARDA- 
TION, ELIMINATION, ACCELERATION . . 150 

Introduction. The school an instrument of selection, as 
seen in retardation, elimination, and acceleration 

1. Retardation 152 

The amount and its variation by grades. 
The cost to society. 
The causes. 
Remedies. 

2. Elimination ......... 158 

A characteristic of all schools. 

Variation in the amount. 

The causes. 

Proposed remedies. 

Elimination a negative measure of success. 

3. Acceleration . . . . . . . . 165 

A less frequent phenomenon than retardation. 

Effect of school organization upon the possibility of 

acceleration. 
Need of a more flexible system. 

4. The Persistent Problem . . . . . . 167 

The school hitherto a bUnd instrument of selection. 
The persistent problem of adaptation. 

CHAPTER VII 

THE SCHOOL AS A GUIDING INSTITUTION . 169 

Introduction. Guidance here considered as a positive pro- 
cess in contrast with the work of selection discussed in 
Chapter VI 

1. Definition op Vocational Guidance . . . 169 

2. The Necessity of Guidance ..... 171 

The conditions in the modern industrial world. 
The helplessness of the immature beginner in the 
world's work. 



Table of Contents xv 



3. Reasons for Making the School a Guiding Institu- 

tion 173 

Its large opportunities for gaining knowledge of 

children. 
The existence of much of the necessary machinery. 
The good of the school. 
Probable resulting social good. 
Loss through neglect. 
Need of supplementing employers' and parents' views 

by those of the school. 

4. Means and Methods of Guidance .... 177 

Possibilities offered by the subject matter of education. 

Definite organization. Examples. 

Need of guiding principles. 

Need of a study of (1) the individual and (2) vocations. 

5. Difficulties and Dangers 183 

Too much emphasis upon the industrial. 
Substitution of mere job-finding for real guidance. 
Too early choice of vocation. 
Too great confidence in meager knowledge. 
Mechanical rather than personal treatment of young 
people. 

6. The Problems 185 

The proper time for guidance. 
Harmonizing conflicting interests. 
Overcoming social pressure. 

Summary 187 



CHAPTER VIII 

THE SCHOOL AS AN INSTRUMENT OF CONTROL: 

MORAL EDUCATION . . .191 

1. Nature and Purpose of Control .... 191 
Selection and guidance as forms of control inferior to 

character-formation. 
Kinds of control : physical and educational. 



xvi Table of Contents 



The instinctive basis of control. Active and passive 

phases. 
Harmony of the active and passive elements. 

2. Historical Types of Control through Education 196 

The Jews. 

The Greeks. 

The medieval church. 

The weakness of education in its fight against instinct. 

3. Control in a Democracy : Moral Education . 199 

Meaning of democracy. 

Forces of control in a democracy moral rather than 

physical. 
Meaning of moral education. 
Dependence of society upon institutions for control 

through moral education. 

4. The School as an Agency of Moral Education . 202 

Tendency of the school toward the intellectual and the 

formal. 
PossibiUty of effective moral training. 
Need of an actual moral environment. 
Value of school spirit. 
Situations of moral significance to be provided through 

school. 
Lack of formal courses in ethics no cause for alarm. 

5. The Moral Significance of the Course of Study 206 

Nature of the course of study. 
Varying moral values of the subjects of study. 
The dilemma of ethical instruction. 
Need of accurate knowledge of values and results. 
The curriculum not the most important factor in form- 
ing character. 
Need of types of material to fit the needs of all pupils. 

6. The Relation of Methods and Discipline to Moral 

Training . . . . J . . . 212 
Mere mastery of content not sufficient. 
Need of special effort to secure maximal transfer of 

training. 



Table of Contents xvii 

PAOB 

School discipliae positive, not merely negative and 
repressive. 

Value of self-government as seen in the school republic 
or city. 

Special organization not necessary. 

The double value of school discipline : (1) special train- 
iQg; (2) development of general ideas and atti- 
tudes. 

7. Importance of the Teacher ..... 217 
The chief factor in overcoming the tendency toward 

artificiality. 
A som"ce of moral guidance and inspiration. 
The chief factor in making content and method vital. 

Summary 218 

CHAPTER IX 

THE SCHOOL AS A COMMUNITY CENTER . 221 

Introduction. The school often a center although not the 
organizing force 

1. The Need op Community Centers .... 222 

Community spirit a definite need. 

Need of a central force to create stronger social spirit. 

In the city : much isolation ; the problem of leisure ; 

class lines ;. the education of adults. 
In the country : peculiar problems of rural life. 

2. Obstacles to the Development of Community 

Centers 227 

Class barriers. 
Intolerance. 
Human inertia. 
Lack of leadership. 
Isolation. 

3. The Question of Making the School a Community 

Center 228 

The possibility suggested by the nature of the school. 
The church not adequate as a community center. 



xviii Table of Contents 

PAGE 

Reasons for making the school such a center : the 
present existence of much of the necessary equip- 
ment ; the probability of increased interest in the 
school ; education the one matter in which all have 
a vital interest. 

4. Growth op the Community Center Movement . 231 

Expansion of the work : education of adults ; public 
lectures ; establishment of recreation centers ; 
evolution of the social center. 

The growth of appropriate legislation. 

The outlook. 

5. The Administration op Extension Activities . . 242 

Four stages : (1) purely voluntary effort ; (2) co- 
operation between school board and citizens ; 
(3) control through some municipal body other 
than board of education ; (4) entire control by 
school authorities. 

The importance of the teacher. 

Need of inspiring the community to do something for 
itself. 

6. The Equipment op the Community Center . . 246 

Traditional school equipment not sufficient. 

Facilities needed for recreation, for public meet- 
ings, for clubs, etc. 

Special need of equipment of rural school for social 
work. 

The teacher's cottage idea. 

Summary . . . . ' 250 



CHAPTER X 

ORGANIZATION AS A SOCIAL PROBLEM . 253 

Introduction. Need of organizing schools to meet present 
needs, regardless of tradition 

1. Kinds of Schools 254 

The school originally a mere transmitter of culture. 



Table of Contents xix 

P>QB 

Need of different kinds of schools to meet varying 

needs. 
The vocational school as an example of attempted 

adjustment. 

2. General Character of American School Organiza- 

tion ......... 256 

State systems instead of a national system. 
General resemblance among the states. 

3. Problems of State Educational Organization . 257 

State versus local control. 
The advantages of centralization. 
The disadvantages. 

The proper relationship between state and local 
functions. 

4. The Problems of Local Organization . . . 266 

Duty of cooperating with the central organization. 

Securing harmony between laymen and professional 
workers. 

Difficulty of securing officials of the right caliber. 

The problem of homogeneity of population in local divi- 
sions. 

The peculiar difficulties of the rural school. Consoli- 
dation. 

5. Organization of the School ..... 272 

The military tradition in school organization. 

Imitation of pohtical organization. 

The plan of freedom and informal cooperation. 

6. Recent Experiments in Organization . . . 276 

The Junior High School. 

Conditions leading to its rise. 

Definition of the term. 

Social significance of the institution. 
The Gary Plan. 

Description. 

Its social significance. 

Summary 283 



XX Table of Contents 

CHAPTER XI 

PAGE 

PRIVATE SCHOOLS AND PUBLIC EDUCATION . 287 

Meaning of the term, private school 

1. Reasons for the Existence op Private Schools . 288 

Provision of a kind of education which the State does 

not give. 
The attitude of the Roman Catholic Church. 
Opportunity of trying new ideas in private schools. 

2. Extent op Private Education in the United States 290 

Range of work of private schools. 
Statistics of denominational schools. 
Growth of church schools in relation to church popula- 
tion. 

3. Classes op People Reached 293 

Special classes of people served. 

4. Scope op the Work Done 294 

Content similar to that of public schools, with the excep- 
tion of religion. 

5. The Value of Private Schools .... 295 

Rehef of public schools from part of burden of educa- 
tion. 

The conduct of kinds of work difficult or impossible in 
the pubUc school. 

6. Dangers of Private Education .... 298 

The cultivation of snobbishness. 
Commercialism. 
Sectarianism. 
Inferior work. 

7. State Supervision op Private Schools . . . 301 

The problem of administration left in the transition 

from church to state control. 
American practice a form of benevolent neutrality. 
Conditions in other countries. 

Summary 305 



Table of Contents xxi 

CHAPTER XII 

PAQB 

THE COURSE OF STUDY: GENERAL CONSIDERA- 
TIONS 308 

1. The Nature and Origin of Subject Matter . . 308 

Origin in experience and growth through need. 

Social nature of subject matter. 

Tendency to reproduce the past, not to anticipate the 

future. 
The course of study a compromise between tradition 

and present needs. 

2. The Function of the Course of Study . . 312 

The provision of material through which to realize the 

aims of education. 
The creation of a social environment. 
Value as an instrument which the State can use to 

adjust itself to changing conditions. 

3. Principles Underlying Selection of Subject Matter 325 

The middle ground of reason between extreme conser- 
vatism and extreme radicalism. 

The disciplinary conception as a basis of selection. 

The culture epoch theory. 

The principles of selection based upon a harmonization 
of conflicting ideas. 

Social needs versus individual capacities. 

Past culture versus present social activities. 

Broad versus narrow content. 

Habit versus judgment and ideals. 

Relative values. 

Summary ; . 344 

CHAPTER XIII 

THE COURSE OF STUDY : THE PARTS . 347 

1. Religion 347 

A subject of utmost importance in the evolution of the 

school. 
Changes since the Reformation. 
The question of religion in the public school. 



xxii Table of Contents 

PAGE 

2. The Litebary Element 353 

The literary tradition of the school in contrast with the 

practical needs of life. 
The function of literature. 
The selection of material. 

3. The Formal Phases op Language .... 357 

Language a social product ; school emphasis upon 

other ideas. 
Selection of material. 
Present social conditions versus tradition. 

4. History and Civics 359 

A broadly social (rather than a political) conception. 

The function of history. 

The actual demand for historical knowledge. 

The elimination of certain types of material from school 

histories. 
Current newspapers and magazines a means of guidance 

in selection. 

5. Mathematics 365 

Two types of school mathematics : disciplinary and 

practical. 
Need of mathematical treatment of many matters of 

social concern. 
Modification of content through social pressure. 

6. Geography and Natural Science .... 368 

Purely scientific treatment inadequate in elementary 
and high schools. 

The social function of geography and natural science. 

Modification of geography through social interpreta- 
tion. 

The social point of view necessary in the selection of 
material. 

7. Vocational Subjects 372 

The use of terms. 

The breakdown of apprenticeship and the effects upon 

the school. 
Early efforts in the field of vocational training. 
Present attempts to vocationalize the schools. 
Summary 380 



Table of Contents xxiii 

CHAPTER XIV 

PAOB 

METHOD 383 

1. The Nature of Method 383 

Basis in the educational ideal, the character of the 

learner, and the nature of subject matter. 
Historical development of method. 

2. Factors Determining Method 387 

The effect of differences in various kinds of material. 

Modification of subject matter as a result of socialization. 

The psychological factor in method. 

The educational aim as a factor. 

The nature of society as a determining force. 

The influence of tradition. 

3. Social Standards for Judging Method , . . 396 

Difficulty of formulating social standards. 

The customary standard : amount of reproducible 

knowledge. 
The development of ideals as a standard. 
The cultivation of a social spirit. 
Freedom, originality, and initiative. 
Development of the sense of responsibility. 
The desire for progress. 
The social interpretation of the curriculum. 
Application of social standards. 

4. Types of Method ....... 409 

The point of view here social, rather than psychological. 
The method of individual instruction. The Batavia 

System. 
The Socratic Method. 

Basis of common interest, cooperative effort, and 
freedom. 
The socialized recitation. 

An example of the use of the method in a history lesson. 
Dramatization. 

Appeal to social motives. 

Its use in various fields. 

Summary 416 



xxiv Table of Contents 

CHAPTER XV 

PAGE 

THE TEACHER: SOCIAL PRODUCT AND SOCIAL 

FACTOR 419 

Introduction. Importance of the teacher 

1. Social Classes from which Teachers are Recruited 421 

Parentage. 

Family income. 

Size of family. 

Occupation of parents. 

Importance of the economic background of the teachers. 

2. Characteristics op the Teaching Population . . 424 

Sex. 

Age. 

Length of service. . 

Amount of training. 

Salaries. 

Relationships of salary, training, and experience. 

3. The Preparation of the Teacher .... 433 

Three stages in the development of teacher-training. 

Emphasis upon subject matter. 

Emphasis upon method. 

Growing recognition of social ideals and service. 
Character of training more important than amount. 
Present tendencies in training of teachers. 

4. Means of Attracting the Most Desirable Talent 439 

Selection of persons to be trained a neglected matter. 

Salary and pensions as tangible rewards of teaching. 

Intangible rewards, such as public esteem and available 
leisure with opportunities for personal and profes- 
sional improvement and for social service. 

5. The Relation op the Teacher to the School System 445 

The teacher primarily a servant of the State. 
Relations with superiors. 

To be based upon merit. 

Cooperation of great importance. 

Giving teachers a voice in school administration. 
Relation to fellow teachers. 

Need of harmony and professional attitude. 



Table of Contents xxv 

PAOB 

Relations with pupils. 

Need of common aims and confidence. 

6. Relation of the Teacher to the Community . 450 

The teacher more than a purveyor of knowledge. 
Participation in community affairs. 

7. The Outlook 451 

The promise of a real teaching profession. 
Summary 452 

GENERAL BIBLIOGRAPHY 457 

INDEX . . . . 465 



THE SCHOOL AS A SOCIAL 
INSTITUTION 

CHAPTER I 

EVOLUTION OF THE IDEA OF THE SCHOOL AS A 
SOCIAL INSTITUTION 



The school has arisen out of very immediate and concrete 
social needs. At the time of its origin, it took over a set of very 
necessary functions that the other institutions found themselves 
unable successfully to carry out. It had no doubtful or distant 
aim. It responded fully to the social demands and purpose. 
There was no danger of a divorcement of the educational aim 
from the social aim; they were one and the same. — G. H. Betts, 
Social Principles of Education, page 91. 



Origin of the School. Under the conditions of primitive 
life the gulf between adult and child is so slight that there 
is no need of a special institution designed to . , 
bridge the space ; since the family and the tribe, increased a 
upon which society depends for the perpetuation special class 

^ . f f arose which 

and protection of the race, are sufficient for all had charge 
recognized educational needs. But as human o^thespint- 

° . ualtreas- 

culture increases, the difference between child ures of the 
and adult becomes more than merely physical, *"*'® 
and a corresponding amount of effort has to be devoted to 
satisfying the need for education. 

Here, as John Fiske has pointed out, lies the significance 
of the prolonged period of human infancy. Before the 



2 The School as a Social Institution 

immature human being can become an adult in fact as well 
as in age and stature, he must learn to adjust himself to 
what President Butler has well called his spiritual environ- 
ment. He must become the possessor of the tribal moral 
ideals, traditions, and myths; he must be made familiar 
with those ceremonies which are deemed to have worth in 
relation to the unseen world. For all this, however, the 
tribe and the family are adequate. 

In the course of time an instrument is devised for making 
mechanical records of ideas, traditions, and all kinds of 
events which are deemed worthy of remembrance. With the 
advent of a written language the possibilities of an increased 
social inheritance become practically infinite, the only limit 
The school being man's capacity for achievement. But in 
arose the earlier stages of human evolution few can hope 

to attain familiarity with the mysteries of learning. A 
special class is set apart to guard and preserve the treasure 
which is stored in the written records. Only those fortunate 
ones who have gained possession of the key through a mas- 
tery of mysterious symbols can have access to this phase 
of social wealth. As a long period of study is necessary 
to gain this mastery and as only a few] can devote them- 
selves to the work, a new institution arises — the School. • 

As has been indicated, this institution is not for all society 
in the sense that every individual is permitted to receive its 
It began as benefits directly ; although, in the sense that its 
a class in- influence permeates the whole social group, its 
stitution activities are indirectly for the betterment of all. 
That chapter in human history which traces the long road 
which leads from the conception of the school as an institu- 
tion for a select few to the modern idea of the school as a 
social instrument for reaching and improving all, however 
lowly and slightly endowed by nature, is a most absorbing 
one. It is the record of ages of blind groping, of centuries 
of struggle of mass against class ; it is, within modern times, 



Evolution of the Idea 3 

the story of humanity's discovering a means to use for the 
conscious purpose of remedying defects, of supplementing 
nature, and of continuing in the realm of human achieve- 
ment that process of evolution which has brought man to 
his present estate. 

In the following paragraphs will be traced in a brief man- 
ner the most obvious steps in the development of the idea 
of the school as an organization which society may consciously 
use as an instrument of progress. 

The location of the first school is as little known as the 
home of the first family or the place of the earliest attempt 
to record events by means of symbols. Was it where the 
primitive grandfather told stories of the tribe to the listen- 
ing members of the family as they sat about the evening 
camp fire? Was it where the elders of the tribe segregated 
a few boys and gave them training in the ceremonies and 
lore of the group? Such questions need not vex us. It is 
sufficient to know that in the process of social evolution 
division of labor appeared and with it class divisions, — 
three general groups being evolved : the workers, whose 
function was to produce; the soldiers, whose function was 
to protect ; and the priestly class, whose work was to govern, 
either alone or in conjunction with the military class. In 
the hands of this third class was the learning of the tribe 
or nation. They, as mediators between the people and the 
World of the Unseen, were the masters of magic, the guard- 
ians of the ceremonies necessary to secure good and to 
ward off evil, the custodians of the traditions, myths, phi- 
losophy, science, and eventually the hterature of the race. 

Oriental Education. It is among Oriental peoples such 
as the Chaldeans, the Egyptians, the Hindus, schools 
and the Chinese that we find the first records among 
of schools. Of these various nations we may take peoples : 
the Chinese as a type for our study of the place *^® Chinese 
of the school in society. We notice first the condition 



4 The School as a Social Institution 

which has already been mentioned, the formal literary 
education in the hands of a few rather than among the 
masses. The fortunate few who were the possessors of the 
sacred learning were thereby enabled to rule over the others. 
Educational ideals were determined by tradition, which in 
turn education served to fix the more firmly. Tradition 
being the product of the social mind, if we may use that 
figure of speech, it is hardly necessary to point out the fact 
that here we have an excellent example of the social control 
of education ; although we need not infer here that this 
control was consciously directed by some such instrumen- 
tality as the State. Tradition likewise determined the 
nature of subject matter and the methods of education. 
Among the Chinese, as among all Oriental peoples, a sacred 
literature formed the curriculum of the schools ; while the 
method was that of memory and imitation. The written 
treasures of the past had to be learned as accurately as if 
they had been mathematical formulas, the least variation 
in which would cause infinite loss. " The object of the 
teacher is to compel his pupils, first to Remember, secondly, 
to Remember, thirdly, and evermore, to Remember." 

All this means that as the ideal was to continue in the 
present and transmit to the future the customs and learning 
The school of the past there was little likelihood of progress 

was the {^i any way other than by accident. The school, 
instrument ■ ,• p j_i p j • • i 

of a domi- an organization tor the purpose oi training a class, 
nating class, -^^g merely a non-progressive machine which im- 
printed the image of the past upon the continually shifting 
present. Here was to be found no attempt to increase 
the sum of human knowledge, to engender zeal for social 
progress, or even to do so much as to disseminate a large 
amount of the 'old learning among the masses. The school 
was in miniature what society was in the large, an instrument 
for suppressing individuality and conforming the human 
unit to the traditional type. 



Evolution of the Idea 5 

Here is the conception of the school which has most 
widely prevailed in the history of the race, — an institution, 
the social value of which is to train the few who 
shall in turn control the masses and keep them in keep society 
the old paths. It is as indifferent to the practical ^° ^^^ °^<^ 
needs of the masses as they in turn are ignorant 
of its possibilities. Practical education is received through 
the process of imitation and the practice of apprenticeship. 
Agriculture, spinning, weaving, pottery-making, working in 
bronze or iron, and indeed all the various arts which are 
the means of providing food, shelter, and clothing have as 
little connection with the school as if that institution were in 
some remote planet, where the literary, the philosophical, 
the moral, and the religious were the sole needs of humanity. 

Jewish Schools. While the descendants of Israel were an 

Oriental people, they differed so much from the Chinese 

that it is worth while to make special mention of 

. . The Jews 

them. It is true that in matters of religion they 

followed what has been and still is the general practice : 
the most powerful insistence upon absolute conformity with 
what has been handed down from the past. All the great 
world religions agree in this insistence that the old ways 
are the true ways ; and even to-day when a new "religion" 
springs up, it is almost certain to be regarded by its followers 
as the restoration of what time, ignorance, and indifference 
have concealed in some older faith. But regardless of this 
emphasis upon the strictest adherence to the very letter of 
the Law, the ancient Hebrews had very much more of the 
idea of individual worth and responsibility than had Ori- 
ental peoples in general. 

" As men ascend above barbarism, their progress is marked by a 
gradual emancipation from institutions, or a gradual development 
of individualism. Institutions do not, indeed, disappear, any more 
than did nature when they arose ; but man now slowly becomes 
master of them, and rises to self direction under institutions, that 



6 The School as a Social Institution 

is, to true, moral freedom. He passes from naive thought to critical 
reflection; and from conventional estimates of things to rational 
estimates, on the basis of worth for moral ends ; from action de- 
termined by status to action determined by reflection and contract. 
He now sets up individual ideals — the saint, the hero, the philos- 
opher, the citizen — and tries to realize them in life and art. Having 
now, for the first time, something of his own to express, he expresses 
it in forms which give him delight, that is, in forms of beauty. 
Recognizing himself to be an original source of action, and not a 
mere puppet in the hands of higher powers, he claims personal 
immortality, and builds himself splendid ideals of eternal existence 
— a life in heaven with the gods. 

" Of the three races that have been the bearers of civilization, 
only two have been able to rise above barbarism, the Semitic and 
the Aryan. It was, indeed, through their united efforts that 
civicism became possible. The people that best represent civic 
eultm-e are the Semitic Jews and the Aryan Greeks and Romans, 
who, in their turn, united to make possible the final, or human, 
type of culture." (Davidson, History of Education, page 76.) 

The conditions of early Hebrew life were such that schools 
were not a pressing necessity. Consequently we find that 
The school education was chiefly a family and a priestly 
was chiefly function. But when, in post-exilic times, vil- 
maidof l^ge schools appeared, it is significant to find 
religion ^j^^t they were an appendage of the synagogue. 
That is to say, the school was regarded as an institution 
subordinate to the general religious organization — a condi- 
tion which was also characteristic of the entire period of the 
Middle Ages and the beginning of modern times. 

As the supreme interest of Jewish society was the Law, 
the work of the schools centered in that study. The learned 
man, the teacher, was a person held in highest esteem; he 
had no rival in the regard of his fellow citizens. Even 
though his work often came to, mean an excessive attention 
to the trivialities of the written word rather than to the 
weighty things of the Law, the school remained an institu- 
tion of the highest social importance, not only for the scholars 



Evolution of the Idea 7 

themselves but for the masses of people whom they influenced 
and led. Reverence for the Law was not only a strong 
bond among all the people but also a mighty force for the 
securing of desirable social conduct. In all this the school 
was no small factor. 

Greek Schools. In this study we may neglect the Spar- 
tans, who were so thoroughly a military people that the 
whole State was organized as a sort of school, 

. The Creeks 

the chief function of which was to give the youth 
of both sexes such moral and physical training as would 
tend to maintain Spartan supremacy at home and abroad. 
We shall here concern ourselves with the Athenians, that 
wonderful group of people who brought schools and edu- 
cation to the highest level known to antiquity. 

In some marvelous way, which we need not try to trace, 
the Athenians had attained a condition in which neither 
the priestly class nor the military dominated. 
Among them a democracy was gradually de- niansrose 
veloped — a democracy which came to include to the level 
all free inhabitants of Attica. Thus it came education 
about that the most absorbing interest of the 
Athenian was public affairs. Having escaped the tyranny 
of the priesthood altogether, and that of the mihtary class 
to a large extent, the Athenian was able to " rise to a con- 
sciousness of free individuality and to introduce civic life 
into the world." (Davidson, page 90.) 

" To Hve beautifully and happily," an ideal by no means 
outworn with the passing of time, was the form in which 
the Athenian expressed his conception of what 

,•111 • 1 • 11 o 1 The ideal 

was the most desirable lot in this world, feuch embodied 
a condition an Attic Spencer might have called ^^'^y , 

ohflscs or 

" complete living." The attainment of this personal 
ideal meant the cultivation of personality, deveiop- 
which, as Davidson says, implies a moral some- 
thing that is not included in the mere idea of individuality. 



8 The School as a Social Institution 

The element of personality which stands out most in con- 
trast with the conditions of Hfe among Oriental peoples 
is the pohtical. The Athenians developed the " concep- 
tion of freedom in and through the state," and the idea that 
education was to fit for this citizenship. Such a freedom as 
this meant freedom of thought, an ideal condition which the 
world has striven for centuries to reahze and even now at- 
tains only in part. If the Greek had given to succeeding 
ages nothing more than this idea of seeking the truth un- 
hampered by superstition and uncontrolled by a priestly 
class, he would deserve grateful remembrance to the end of 
time. This doctrine of freedom has also a moral aspect. 
" Each individual found in his rational nature the sanction 
for determining his own ends in life ; and in his moral nature 
the conception of these ends as shaped by his own being. 
Through the realization of his own nature, each must work 
out the things that life is to be lived for ; science, art, phi- 
losophy, religion, are means to this end, and are to be made 
subservient to it. Thus moral responsibility and moral 
freedom, freedom under and through the law discoverable 
in one's own nature, were first conceived and applied to 
every individual by the Greeks." (Monroe, Brief Course, 
page 29.) In addition to all this the Greeks developed an 
ideal of beauty, the influence of which still holds the world 
debtor. For the subjective life, it meant harmony; for 
the objective phases of man's environment, it meant art in 
those forms of architecture, sculpture, painting, poetry, 
and drama which have had a lasting influence upon the 
western world. 

In response to the social conditions described in the fore- 
going paragraphs relating to political matters and to the 
many-sided ideal of the Greeks, three types of schools arose. 
In the first place, there was the palestra, an institution 
the purpose of which was to provide elementary physical 
training for young boys, thus giving them health, strength, 



Evolution of the Idea 9 

and beauty of body and preparing them for the more stren- 
uous training which the prospective citizen and soldier had 
to undergo. Parallehng this school for physical 
training was the music school, which was de- Schools 
signed to give the soul a beauty and perfection response to 
no less than that attained by the body through social 
gjTTinastic. The curriculum, which centered in the palestra 
the Homeric literature, included all those ac- ^°^ eiemen- 
tivities which were presided over by the nine training; 
Muses, not merely music in the modern sense. 
Even in the method of the school the Greek ideal of freedom 
and individuality overcame the force of tradition to a 
large extent ; for, while memory and imitation 
were employed, initiative, originality, and self- music 
expression found a place which they did not fchooi for 
have among the peoples of the Orient. The boy and ses- 
learned to play upon the lyre an accompaniment ^^^'^ educa- 
to his chanting of the Homeric or other litera- 
ture, — - an accompaniment which he himself made and 
adapted to the varying mood of whatever he was express- 
ing. 

In addition to palestra and music school, there was the 
gymnasium to which the youth went at the age of fifteen or 
sixteen. Putting behind him the things of child- ^^^ , . ^^^ 
hood as typified in the person of the pedagogue gymnasium 
from whose guardianship he was now freed, the advanced 
young Athenian devoted himself to the more physical 
serious and more strenuous work that prepared *^*^^^2 
him for the last steps into citizenship. The work of the 
gymnasium was physical training without any formal study 
of literature. It is probably true that in this period of 
comparative freedom the youth gained a great deal in- 
tellectually and morally through free association with older 
persons, through the special care which many of the men 
gave the boys who were their favorites. The interest which 



10 The School as a Social Institution 

the older men took in the spectacles of the gymnasium, the 
leisurely succession of events, and the susceptibiHty of the 
boys to adult influence combined to make the incidental moral 
and intellectual training of the gymnasium almost, if not fully, 
as important as the definite training which was given the body. 
From what has been said of the Athenian ideal of de- 
mocracy, one might infer that the gymnasium was free 

and open equallv to all the Athenian youth. 
They were . 

however, ' But here, as often, is found quite a gulf between 
class in- i]^q i(Jeal and the real. While the gymnasia 
were open to all freeborn youth of Athens, the 
Academy to the pure Athenian and the Cynosarges to those 
of mixed blood, the instruction was not free. For this 
reason attendance was generally limited to the sons of the 
comparatively wealthy. Thus, even in democratic Athens, 
an institution whose cliief purpose was to give preliminary 
training for citizenship was limited in actual practice to one 
class of people. 

The two years spent in the gymnasium ended the school 
days of the Athenian boy, " Having demonstrated to the 
Special officials that he met the moral and physical 

training was requirements for citizenship," the youth was 
prepare for " enrolled among the list of free citizens, took 
citizenship ^]^g Q^th pledging fidelity to the state, the gods, 
and the moral traditions of his people, was furnished in 
the public assembly with his equipment as a soldier by his 
father, or, if an orphan through war, by the state, and 
exchanged the dress of youth for that of the free citizen." 
(Monroe, Brief Course, page 43.) This was followed by two 
years of training — the first, in barrack or camp life near 
the city ; the second, on the frontier as a regular soldier. 

The remarkable thing about this system of training was 
that the State directly assumed charge of a large part of 
the education of the youth and definitely prepared for the 
duties of citizenship. But there is a very great contrast 



Evolution of the Idea 11 

between the practice of the Athenians and that of the 
American states. In the latter case, the chief training; for 
citizenship is intellectual, evidently following the theory 
that in a democracy the individual citizen must have a 
certain minimum of education in order to perform his 
duties as voter intelligently. In the former case, the formal 
training actually provided by the State was distinctly physi- 
cal and moral, all intellectual education being incidental. 

In later times changing conditions added other types of 
schools to the palestra, music school, and gymnasium. 
The increase of wealth, the expansion of knowl- 
edge, and the accompanying formulation of some of education 
of the sciences, the greater opportunities for ^*^ modi- 

.,..,, , , , • ,1 1 fied to meet 

mdividual advancement through intellectual changing 
capacity and training, all served to emphasize social 
the need of more intellectual training. At first, 
wandering teachers, the Sophists, supplied the material to 
satisfy this need ; but in the course of time definite schools 
were established. These institutions were of two distinct 
types. The first was the rhetorical school, which prepared 
for the practical activities of life through training in oratory 
and the new intellectual culture of the times, its purpose 
being as thoroughly practical as that of the modern law 
school. The second type was the philosophical school, 
an institution which had little direct connection with the 
practical affairs of life or the activities of the State. Al- 
though Plato and Aristotle, the founders of two of the great 
schools of philosophy, had a keen interest in statecraft, their 
followers really built up a kind of institution which was 
non-social, indeed almost anti-social in the fact that al- 
legiance to the school tended to become a substitute for alle- 
giance to the State. The citizen was lost in the philosopher. 
The final step in the development of Athenian education 
was taken when a university arose through a kind of amal- 
gamation of the three schools of philosophy (Platonism, 



12 The School as a Social Institution 

Aristotelianism, and Stoicism), the work of the rhetorical 
schools, especially in rhetoric and logic, being a prerequisite. 
The state training of the young men was reduced to one 
year and was made optional ; hence more time was available 
for philosophical study. While this university grew largely 
out of the non-social philosophical schools, the State did not 
relinquish its control; for at the head of the institution 
was, as we should now say, a president or chancellor, who 
was chosen by the Athenian senate. 

Summarizing the progress made by the Athenians in 
the matter of schools, we may say that althou'gh they did 
not reach that stage of development in which the school be- 
comes the conscious instrument of the State for giving cer- 
tain desirable training to the children of all its citizens, they 
did recognize the fact that in the school the State has a valu- 
able instrument for giving a certain kind of education. 
And in the case of the gymnasium, they actually used the 
school as a state institution. 

Roman Schools. Of the Romans little is to be said. 
Their intellectual and sesthetic culture was borrowed from 
the Greeks, as were their schools. Among both 
sctwoiswere Peoples elementary education was held in low 
patterned esteem and the education of the masses was 
Greek ^ ^ topic which hardly interested even the most 
visionary. The schools which the Greeks had 
developed, especially the rhetorical and philosophical schools, 
were accepted and used by the conquering Romans. While 
the practical Roman had no use for an elementary physical 
training school, like the palestra, he did permit the devel- 
opment of a kind of school which was much like the Greek 
music school, — the grammar school. 

The real spirit of the Roman, however, was hostile to the 
idea of school. His conception of the proper way to prepare 
for life in any chosen field was to learn by observation of the 
activities in that occupation or profession and to gain skill 



Evolution of the Idea 13 

by actual participation. In a word he did not rise above 
the primitive idea of apprenticeship. However, centuries 
of contact with the Greek brought him to a tolerant use of 
the institutions which gave training in oratory and various 
intellectual subjects. 

One interesting fact, though a matter of slight permanent 
influence apparently, was that the Romans devised a scheme 
for licensing teachers, thus giving the State con- g^^ ^j^^ 
trol over education in a very direct way. At Romans 
the time of the attempted revival of paganism ^Irtahi 
under JuUan the Apostate, it seemed desirable ideas of 
to prevent Christians from teaching in the pagan ^°^^° • 
schools. The requirement of a certificate or hcense was 
the means of eliminating the undesirable class of teachers. 
Certification thus meant what it came to mean in early 
modern times, especially in the Reformation period, — a 
device, not to select the properly trained and qualified, but 
to eliminate the undesirable. 

The nearest approach which the Romans made to a state 
system of schools came through the imperial support of 
certain institutions, the fixing of a scale of salaries 
for teachers, and the assumption by the imperial ^devdop 
government of the sole authority over the found- a state 
ing of schools. These steps might have led to the schoo™ ° 
development of a state system of schools, as was the 
case later in modern countries, had not the interest in schools 
and the intellectual fife fallen to a state approaching The schools 
mere nothingness with the decline of the Empire. °^ *^® 

Schools of the Church. At the time when the church 
Roman Empire was in its golden period there mark a 
arose a little-known and much-despised sect the domina- 
which in the course of a few centuries came to *'°^ °^ ^<*"- 
dominate the western world. As the Empire priestly 
decreased in strength the Church became more *='*^s 
and more powerful. In this transformation came a very 



14 The School as a Social Institution 

important change in the schools, a revolution indeed from 
civic to ecclesiastical spirit and control. Here again we 
find education in the hands of a priestly class. 

The conditions in th« early Christian centuries and indeed 
throughout the Middle Ages demanded a kind of educational 
service which the old classical schools could in 
educatkmai ^^ sense render. A world in the darkness of 
needs were ignorance, superstition, and sin was waiting 
Sous^ to be brought to the Hght of Christianity. The 
need was no greater than the zeal of the Church, 
which was from its beginning a missionary institution. Its 
zeal, however, was not for developing citizens in any worldly 
empire, Roman, Greek, or Jewish. Citizenship was lost in 
'/ other-worldliness " ; for the Christian, desiring " a better 
country," looked for '' a city which hath foundations, whose 
builder and maker is God." 

As the greatest need of the pagan world was moral and 
religious education, so the material with which the Church 
sought to meet this need was not the arts and sciences but 
a Gospel and an increasing religious literature. As the 
vehicle in which to convey the message of Christianity the 
pagan world supplied two languages, Latin and Greek, of 
which the former came into exclusive use in the western 
part of Europe. In addition to providing languages the 
pagan world furnished a very limited amount of intellectual 
baggage, — the Seven Liberal Arts. 

For a large part of the work of the Church, schools were 

entirely unnecessary ; but in the early Christian 

o^„o*l°+!. centuries catechumenal and catechetical schools 

arose to 

give training existed here and there, their purpose being to give 
funda- training in the fundamentals of Christian doc- 

mentals of trine. In the case of the catechetical schools at 
tian fai"h" Alexandria and a few other places the work rose 
to a high level and met the pagan philosophies 
on their own plane. The great problem of the Church, 



Evolution of the Idea 15 

however, was not to philosophize nor to train its workers 
to deal with the intellectual class, but to reach in some 
vital way the great masses of ignorant and sinful pagans and 
barbarians. Hence, education was generally of the most 
rudimentary sort. 

In order that the Church might have properly trained 
men to carry on its work, it developed a special type of 
school to give this necessary preparation, the ^^^^ ^^ 
bishop being responsible for this work. of edu- prepare 
eating boys and young men for the priesthood. ie*^ers 
In the school which existed for this purpose for the 
(bishop's school or cathedral school) the amount ^^ 
of learning was exceedingly meager, even when it included the 
Seven Liberal Arts and theology. 

In bearing the burden of providing at least a little intel- 
lectual training after the disappearance of the last pagan 

institutions of learning, the cathedral school 

11 1 . 1 1 XT Little need 

was assisted by the monastic school. Here too ofinteUec- 
the Seven Liberal Arts were studied, with re- ^"^ training 

W3.S felt 

ligion, however, as the chief concern. Neither 
school was in any sense an institution for giving a broad 
intellectual training to children or adults generally. Not 
only was there little interest in the intellectual life among 
the masses but the apparent need for it was slight. 

When, in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, universities 
began to rise, the underlying social needs were reflected in 
theology, law, and medicine. That is to say, 
the first compelling need of education appeared Middle Ages 
not in the elementary field but in the realm of certain 
the higher, the professional. The increase of i°^\q {J^g ^ 
heresies led to Scholasticism as a means of de- rise of uni- 
fending the faith. The conflicts between em- ^n"**^*^' 
perors and the wealthy cities of northern Italy 
resulted in a revival of interest in civil law. Increasing 
interest in the use of material means of curing disease led 



16 The School as a Social Institution 

to a revival of medicine. Through the development of 
these three fields the universities arose.'^ 

Toward the close of the Middle Ages other schools arose, 

which, although they were in reality dominated by the 

Church, showed a tendency toward secular edu- 

of schools^ cation. In some cases schools were maintained 

some of by gilds, not for the purpose of trade education, 

a tendency^ ^^^ ^^^ *^^ ^^^^ ^^ providing intellectual and 
toward religious training for the children of members, 

education Although the teacher was generally a priest, 
this school developed as an adjunct of gild 
rather than of church. There were also a few burgher schools ; 
that is, schools maintained by the citizens of some of the 
towns. These schools were often taught by priests ; but 
lay teachers became increasingly numerous. 

At the close of the Middle Ages, although slight beginnings 
of non-church schools had been made, there was no general 
These consciousness of a movement which would re- 

beginnings g^ii in divorcing school from church. The Church 

of S6ClllflT 

education had been and was " the mother of schools." 
showed no Such semi-secular schools as had arisen had 
effort to come into being without any purpose of break- 
break away f^g away from the Church. Nevertheless from 
Church; sucb apparently unimportant deviations from 
but they church support and control there developed 
civic educa- with the changing needs of modern times sys- 
*^°" tems of schools which were not controlled by 

the Church and were not religious in the character of their 
work. The beginnings of modern education then were made 
in a period when the school was regarded as an instrumen- 

^ An interesting question arises in regard to the source from which the 
university derives its authority to teach and grant degrees. Is this source of 
authority the Church or the State ? Is pope or emperor the proper person 
to grant charters ? In actual practice both Church and State assumed the 
authority to do this, — thus foreshadowing a struggle which was to come 
later over the general control of education. 



Evolution of the Idea 17 

tality of the Church ; but those beginnings led eventually 
to the conception of the school as a civic institution. 

Influence of the Renaissance. When the spirit of hu- 
manism with its emphasis upon the worth of man and his 
activities in the present world began to be felt Newin- 
in Europe, the schools were under the sway of terestsied 
the scholastic tendency, which regarded the- founding of 
ology as " the queen of the sciences " and had °^* schools 

,. , . ... , , ^ and to the 

sbght interest m thmgs purely human. In modification 
this set of conditions we have a fine example of °* ^^ °^^ 
what often happens when a new ideal of life comes forward 
and tries to modify education through the schools. As 
Scholasticism was in control of the educational institutions 
already in existence. Humanism had slight opportunity to 
spread among them. Hence a new type arose, generally 
attempting to revive the glories of the golden days of Greece 
and Rome. In the course of years the old schools were 
modified more or less by the new tendency. 

In general there was no evident attempt to break away 
from the dominance of religion and the Church, even though 
the spirit of Humanism was worldly rather than The new 
" other-worldly." It is true however that as education 
the secular rulers became interested in culture upper 
they strove to make their courts centers of classes, 
learning and sometimes established schools in which more 
or less famous scholars imparted the treasures of classical 
learning to eager young men. The practical and political 
side of these " schools of the courts and nobility " is seen 
in their rather evident purpose to train those who were to 
become the leaders in the State, as the old monastic and 
cathedral schools had prepared boys and young men who 
were, for the most part, prospective monks and priests. 

In the changes which introduced classical instead of 
medieval Latin as the language of the schools, which en- 
riched the curriculum by adding the Greek language and 



18 The School as a Social Institution 

the classical literature of both Greeks and Romans, and 
which tended to emphasize humanitas as contrasted with 
not for the divinitas, there was nothing which seemed to have 
masses ^ny tendency to develop the idea of the desira- 

bility of general elementary education for the children of 
the masses of the people. The new content of education 
like the old emphasized secondary and higher education 
and had no relation to the problems of the great majority 
of the people, — those who had to bear the burden of the 
support of society through the labor of their hands. 
The ideals of the best schools were " learning and virtue," 
■ — ideals which were beyond the dream of all but the few who 
had the gifts of leisure and intellectual capacity. This con- 
ception of the school deserves emphasis because there are 
still to-day many who are out of sympathy with those newer 
school activities which are designed to meet the needs of 
those children and young people who have no marked in- 
tellectual gifts. 

TheRef- Schools of the Reformation. While the Ref- 

ormation, ormation was, in the large sense, merely a con- 
mentaUy a tinuation of the Renaissance with change in time 
reUgious ^nd place, its political character, in connection 
recognized with the religious, and its emphasis upon in- 
the poUticai dividual responsibility and individual needs 
trial needs gave it a relation to schools different from that 
of society of the earlier movement. 

The political and industrial needs of the people were 
recognized even by the religious leaders, — as may be seen 
in that section of Luther's Address to the Mayors and 
Councillors of the German Cities, in which he writes : — 

"Were there neitlier soul, heaven, nor hell, it would still be 
necessary to have schools for the sake of affairs here below, as 
the history of the Greeks and Romans plainly teaches. The world 
has need of educated men and women, to the end that the men may 
govern the country properly, and that the women may properly 



Evolution of the Idea 19 

bring up their children, care for their domestics and direct the 
affairs of their households. ... I by no means approve of those 
schools where a child was accustomed to pass twenty or thirty years 
in studying Donatus or Alexander, without learning anything. 
Another world has dawned, in which things go differently. My 
opinion is that we must send the boys to school one or two hours a 
day, and have them learn a trade at home for the rest of the time. 
It is desirable that these two occupations march side by side." 

But the theory which is the support of general elementary 
training is to the effect that as every individual is personally 
responsible to God for his beliefs and his con- ^j^^ domi- 
duct he should have at least enough education nant reason 
to make it possible for him to read the Bible "he^^dea^of 
and so receive that guidance without which he universal 
has no hope of salvation. In addition to this ed™a^wi^ 
elementary education for the masses, higher edu- was reii- 
cation is necessary in order that access to those ^°"^ 
languages in which the Bible was originally written may 
never be lost and in order that there may be properly trained 
persons in the professions of theology, law, medicine, and 
statecraft. 

In actual practice those states which followed the re- 
formers lagged considerably beliind the ideal of universal 
education. As might have been expected from 
the whole preceding history of education, the OTacti™**^°° 
process of providing schools began at the top lagged 
and worked downward. In the Electorate of j^/eaT'^ ^* 
Saxony, for example, the first system of schools 
made no provision for elementary education. But in 1559 
the Duke of Wiirtemberg proposed a plan (adopted by the 
State six years later) which followed the Saxony plan of 
secondary schools and added elementary schools, — thus 
providing a system for all the people. A complete system 
was formed by the addition of a university, — that of 
Tubingen. Other states adopted similar systems and 
made improvements such as providing elementary educa- 



20 The School as a Social Institution 

tion for girls, making attendance compulsory, and fixing 
the school calendar. 

While in all these schools the dominant purpose was re- 
ligious and the most important subject of study was re- 
ligion, the State assumed control and the burden 
portant ^f responsibility for maintenance. Such re- 

forward sponsibiHty, however, meant merely that the 
state^ontroi State was bound to see that the schools were kept 
of educa- in operation, not that the burden was shifted 
from the family to the State. Education did not 
become free until much later ; and even to-day part of the 
expense of German secondary and higher schools is provided 
through tuition fees. The important fact is that education 
came to be regarded as the proper function of the State. 

The Reformation in England produced no such result. 
Schools were not considered the instrument of the State; 
but education was considered the work of the 
was not family and the Church. The only class for 
taken in whose education the State assumed responsi- 
inthe bility was the children of paupers. In the his- 

Reformation ^ory of American education these conditions 
are important because the English colonists 
brought to this country the tradition of education under 
the auspices of the Church, — a tradition which has not 
entirely disappeared. In England, when the conception of 
the need of general education clashed with the idea that it 
is not the duty of the State to provide schools, the solution 
was found in the organization of various philanthropic or re- 
ligious societies which attempted to carry on the work. 

Influence of Naturalism. As an outgrowth of the Ref- 
ormation there developed the idea that the school is a social 
instrument which the State may use to provide for defense 
and to secure prosperity. This idea, as has already been 
shown, developed first in the German states, where it resulted 
in school systems established by princes who recognized the 



Evolution of the Idea 21 

political and economic value of education as a civic func- 
tion. The point of view was not that of the needs or 
capacities of the individual, but that of the wel- 
fare of the State. To supplement this idea, if Democracy 
not to replace it, there came another philosophy <=*°^® ^°^^° 
in the eighteenth century, — that of Naturalism, with the 
with its ideals of democracy, its conception of °^^^^ 

flnstocrfltic 

the rights of the common man, and its vision conceptions 
of social reform which would abolish old abuses, o^iife and 
These two ideas of the relation of the citizen 
and the State have furnished a source of continual conflict 
down to the present moment ; for, however easily they may 
be reconciled in theory, they have continued to war with 
one another in industry, in politics, and in the school. The 
naturalistic conception had little immediate influence upon 
schools in general as it was too crude and revolutionary ; but 
it furnished a conception of life and education which gained 
force when men like Pestalozzi, Herbart, Froebel, and their 
followers showed how to adapt the school to the powers and 
needs of the individual. These men tended to moderate the 
extreme doctrine of Rousseau, according to whose conception 
of individual education the school would have been an anomaly. 
The American School. Colonial Conceptions. When the 
English colonists came to the wilderness of America ^.^^^.j 
in the seventeenth century, they brought with them American 
the English tradition of the school as a private ^e°°/^ 
or ecclesiastical institution for which the State transplanted 
had no responsibility. Although this concep- |^°|s^^d 
tion continued long in the southern and middle customs, 
colonies, it was discarded almost at once by the deve^io°ed 
Puritans of Massachusetts. Before they had the practice 
been in the new land twenty years they had ^o^teof 
made two legal enactments in regard to educa- of educa- 
tion, the second of which (the famous Law of *^°° 
1647) actually required the establishment of schools by the 



22 The School as a Social Institution 

towns of the colony when they had attained a certain 
population. But as the State was a kind of ecclesiastical 
oHgarchy in which the person who was not a church member 
had no voice, the fact of legal enactment concerning schools 
does not have the significance which it would have if State 
and Church were separate institutions, each claiming the 
right to establish and administer schools. These early laws, 
however, furnished a starting point for the development of 
state systems of schools when once the idea of separation 
of Church and State became an actual condition and not a 
mere theory. 

A godly fear seems to have been the motive back of the 
first law requiring the establishment of schools, " that old 
Deluder Satan " serving as inspirer of this fear. The school 
promised to be a means of circumventing the deep-laid plans 
of that highly respected enemy by preventing the burial 
of learning " in the grave of our fathers in church and com- 
monwealth." Out of this prudent foresight of the early 
lawmakers of Massachusetts grew the town school, which 
came to be regarded as the bulwark of liberty and democracy. 
But in this conception of the school as an institution for 
the establishment of which the commonwealth was responsi- 
ble, Massachusetts and the other New England colonies 
which followed her example were a century or two in ad- 
vance of the practice of most of the other English colonies. 

While the legal control of the school was not in the hands 

of the Church, the curriculum was as thoroughly dominated 

by religious conceptions as would have been 

Still the ^j^ pg^gg j£ ^]^g State had had no voice whatever 

school was 

really in the matter. The horn book, the New Eng- 

b°™eU^ion ^^^^ Primer, and practically all the literature 
studied by pupils of the elementary school were 
thoroughly saturated with the religious ideas of the Puritans. 
Even in the grammar school where the Latin classics were 
studied, the purpose was dominantly rehgious ; and pagan 



Evolution of the Idea 23 

writers were tolerated as a means toward the great end 
of mastering the language of learning. Cicero, for ex- 
ample, was a servant to aid in the mastery of the Latin 
tongue rather than a great writer whose cultural wealth 
was to be appropriated through the assistance of that 
medium. 

Conception of the School in the Early National 

Period 

Various factors, such as shifting and scattered population, 

the difficulties of communication, the urgent practical 

necessities of pioneer life, the decay of old ideals, 

- • ^ 1 , 1 ^ The Fathers 

the desolation oi wars, and the struggle tor of the 
political liberties, had in the later colonial period Republic 
brought about a decreased interest in educa- the value 
tion and schools. But in the early days of the °/ educa- 
Republic, there was not lacking among political 
leaders a large appreciation of the possibihties of the school 
as a great instrument through the use of which the State 
would be able to develop that intelligent citizenry upon which 
the success of the great experiment in democratic govern- 
ment depended. 

It was the opinion of President Monroe that " however 
free our political institutions may be in the commencement, 
liberty cannot long be preserved unless society in every dis- 
trict, in all its members possesses that portion of useful knowl- 
edge which is necessary to qualify them to discharge with 
credit and effect those great duties of citizens on which free 
government rests. The responsibility of public servants, 
however well provided for by the Constitution, becomes vain 
and useless if the people in general are not competent judges, 
in the course of the administration, of all the questions which 
it involves. If it was wise, manly, and patriotic in us to 
estabhsh a free Government, it is equally incumbent on us 
to attend to the necessary means of its preservation." 



24 The School as a Social Institution 

(To the Governor of Virginia. Writings, IV, page 109. 
Quoted in U. S. Bureau of Education Bulletin, No. 28, 1913, 
page 18.) 

De Witt Clinton expressed himself in a similar manner in 
a message as Governor of New York : " The first duty of 
government, and the surest evidence of good government, 
is the encouragement of education. A general diffusion of 
knowledge is the precursor and protector of republican in- 
stitutions, and in it we must confide as the conservative 
power that will watch over our liberties and guard them 
against fraud, intrigue, corruption, and violence. I consider 
the system of our common schools as the palladium of our 
liberties, for no reasonable apprehension can be entertained 
of its subversion as long as the great body of the people are 
enlightened by education." (Ibid.) 

In contrast with the views of these two statesmen, 
which may be considered typical of the enlightened opinion 
^ ■ , of the day, was the attitude of the people in gen- 

but schools , . 

lagged far eral. there were so many open avenues to 
behind their guccess besides the one which led from the door 
of the school that not even illiteracy was a dis- 
grace. In spite of the mass of ignorance and indifference, 
however, the ideals of the leaders were not without effect. 
The labors of men like Franklin, Jefferson, De Witt Clinton, 
Henry Barnard, Horace Mann, Caleb Mills, and their 
numerous fellow laborers multiplied those beacons of learn- 
ing and progress, the conmaon schools. There is much more 
than rhetoric in the words of Thomas Jefferson : " There are 
two subjects, indeed, which I claim the right to further as 
long as I breathe, the public education and the subdivision 
of counties into wards ; I consider the continuance of re- 
publican government as absolutely hanging on these two 
hooks." 

In striking contrast with the political life in which coopera- 
tion had been emphasized through the events of the Revolu- 



Evolution of the Idea 25 

tion and the founding of the national government there was 
a stage of economic development in which wide cooperation 
was as yet practically unknown — free competi- 
tion being the ideal as well as the actual practice, education 
In this early period, before the battle for free ^.^^ *^°f ' 

•^ ^ ' sidered an 

schools had been won, before the debt of each individual 
to all had been recognized, the spirit of the ™*"«'' 
people as reflected in the economic struggle dominated the 
schools. Education was looked upon as a benefit to the 
individual for which he (through his parents) should pay ; 
and free schools were quite generally regarded as pauper 
schools. 

Even where, as in Massachusetts, there was a kind of 
system of public schools under the auspices of the State, if not 
entirely supported by taxation, the pseudo-demo- 
cratic idea of decentralization was carried to such public 
an extreme that local schools were too small, too schools 
poor, and too badly taught to be effective in realiz- district sys- 
ing the ideals of democracy. In Massachusetts *^™ Y^^ * 
the district system became a great obstacle to 
educational progress ; and yet that system was but the logical 
outcome of the idea that local units must be so small that 
every tax payer can see where every cent of his money goes, 
— an idea that is an absolute barrier to the progress that 
wider cooperation makes possible. 

Under the district system each little division of the town 
insisted on having and spending its own share of the school 
money. As the number of districts was very great (in the 
time of Horace Mann, more than three thousand in a state 
with an area of less than eight thousand square miles), the 
pupils were few in number, the amount of taxable property 
was small, and consequently teachers were poorly paid and 
schools generally were in a deplorable condition. As the 
people were accustomed to a meager curriculum, limited to 
" the three R's," as they had rarely known anything better 



26 The School as a Social Institution 

than a ramshackle schoolhouse with most pitiable equipment, 
as no prophet of discontent had preached to them the doctrine 
of better things, they were generally inclined to have an atti- 
tude of tolerance toward existing conditions, if not a feeling of 
satisfaction in them. It was the work of men like Horace 
Mann, Henry Barnard, Caleb Mills, and John D. Pierce to 
leaven this unpromising lump. 

In states like New York and Pennsylvania, which had not 
, progressed as far as Massachusetts along the road 

In some r- o o 

states it to a state system of education, it was necessary, 
1^ °o*take ^f^^^ ^he beginning of the nineteenth century, to 
the final take the steps which led from seventeenth century 
step from English ideas to the modern American practice, 
public This transition was merely the change from 

schools, — gc]^QQis supported by churches and by private 
enterprise to those maintained by the government, — • 
state, county, or town. In this transition the monitorial 
system was of great importance; for it ac- 
^^^^E customed the people to the idea of the educa- 

which was _ . . 

greatly tion of children in large numbers, it made a kind 



b the ^^ education possible for all at a slight expense, 



facilitated 

by the 

monitorial and hence led the way to a willingness to pay 

Tombed more for better educational advantages. In the 

by public matter of control, the public school societies stood 

school ^^ ^j^g place between the earlier schools and the 

societies ^ 

later state-controlled schools. 
Here we discover a very interesting and very important 
type of social action. Society in its organized form as the 
State does not provide something which a number of progres- 
sive citizens think desirable. These men form some kind of 
organization for the purpose of supplying that which the 
State fails to provide ; and in carrying on this work they 
educate their fellow citizens to a point where the popular 
demand leads the government to assume a work which it has 
hitherto deemed unnecessary or inexpedient. This is a phase 



Evolution of the Idea 27 

of the history of pubhc schools, of the kindergarten, of the man- 
ual training school, and of various other activities which are 
now generally carried on at the expense of the schools 

State. were 

scncrsillv 

As a result of the wOrk that has been described, free by 
the battle for free schools was generally won by *^® middle 
about the middle of the nineteenth century. But teenth 
the actual making of the school was still to be done, century 

Changing Conditions after the Civil War. The tremen- 
dous amount of attention given to the slavery question and 
to the doctrine of states' rights, culminating in the conditions 
Civil War, had been a great hindrance to educa- of American 
tion. After the war was over an era of gigantic yery*^^apidi^ 
economic expansion began. An industrial revolu- after the 
tion took place, with the development of machin- " 

ery and of factories, with greatly enlarged facilities for 
transportation, with unprecedented growth of cities. In 
addition to all this there was a great shifting of population 
to the westward and a great tide of immigration fi'om Euro- 
pean countries. " The many social and industrial changes 
which followed made great inroads on the old educational 
functions of the home, and marked the end of the apprentice- 
ship system as a useful means of education. Life and educa- 
tion became dynamic, and methods of procedure and instruc- 
tion suited to static conditions completely broke down." 
(Cubberley, Changing Conceptions of Education, page 38.) 

In earher days the academy had risen in response to the 
demands for more practical education ; but it 
had fallen a prey to the classical tradition. The responded 
elementary schools as previously described had *° changed 

,. , ,. « conditions 

given little more than the barest rudiments oi by an en- 
education. But in the latter part of the nine- "ched 
teenth century new subjects of study and new 
institutions began to demand place in the school system 
more insistently than ever before. Hence such subjects as 



28 The School as a Social Institution 

music, nature study, physiology and hygiene, drawing, man- 
ual training, domestic science, and history have taken their 
place with " the three R's " in the curriculum ; while kinder- 
garten, high school, and various types of schools for indus- 
trial training have been incorporated in the system. 

Under the influence of the psychological tendency, which 
had been slightly felt earlier in the century, the conception 
by improved ^^ ^^® process of education changed. The old 
processes of disciplinary conception, while not completely 
education; disappearing, gradually gave way to a clearer 
appreciation of child nature. Subjects of study and methods 
of teaching both responded to the new understanding of the 
nature of the child. Both elementary and normal schools 
reflected the psychological tendency; although both were 
slower in their progress than even the most extreme con- 
servatism seemed to demand. 

Not only have existing schools been modified in content 
and method, but new types of schools have arisen and old 
types have been modified. The high school, the 
types of beginnings of which are to be found prior to the 
institu- Civil War, represents in its growth the influence of 

the changes which characterize our later national 
period. At the present time the evolution of the junior 
high school shows how older institutions are modified to 
meet needs which are not met under older forms of organiza- 
tion. Various kinds of schools for manual training and 
vocational education show how new institutions are being 
developed or old ones modified in response to current social 
demands. 

Through the influence of a changing doctrine of citizenship 
and a higher conception of the meaning of social welfare and 
by a social service, there has been brought about some 

developing change in the conception of the nature of the 
soci 1 ea ; ggj^QQj ^^^^ j^g purpose as well as changes in the 
nature of the subject matter and the spirit of the school. 



Evolution of the Idea 29 

That process of social evolution which has led to great indus- 
trial organizations, extreme specialization with consequent 
mutual dependence, great centers of population, and need of 
greater legal protection of the individual, has had no slight 
influence upon the school. There is a growing recognition 
of the idea that the work of education is no longer to fit the 
individual for the free competitive struggle which character- 
ized the life of earlier generations, but that it is one great 
purpose of the school to develop that ideal and practice of 
social cooperation which will enable the individual to be of 
greatest service to his country, while he in return receives 
from society his just share of all those material and spiritual 
riches which increase his own wellbeing. 

The school was regarded as the place of the book, as 
an institution whose sole function was to give students a 
mastery of material almost entirely literary. 
Within the past generation there has been a con- assumption 
stant adding to the work which it is expected to °^ ^^T^ 
do. The home was once deemed adequate to the 
task of protecting the health of children, training their morals, 
seeing that they acquired sufficient skill to work profitably 
at some trade ; but on account of the urgent need of better 
care in such matters, more and more has been required of 
the school. Medical inspection, the school lunch, industrial 
and trade education, vocational guidance, the use of the school 
as a social center, attempts to incorporate adequate moral 
instruction in the curriculum, all show how the scope of 
school work is expanding to meet current needs. 

During the process of change, the school has criticism 
been a continual center of criticism. From with- ^^^ ^'^f^ 
out, practical men have pointed out its failure to compelling 
produce a satisfactory educational product ; while *^® school 
from within, educators of insight and inspiration itself to 
have criticized its methods, its curriculum, its changing 
spirit, and its organization. Although much of 



30 The School as a Social Institution 

the criticism shows merely that a great deal is expected of the 
school, and exhibits deplorable ignorance of its real possi- 
bilities, the result has generally been more or less extensive 
attempts at reconstruction in ways designed to remedy defects 
and increase the scope and effectiveness of the work. As a 
result of all this, the school is more than ever conscious of 
itself and its purpose, and active in adapting itself to the 
needs of modern life. 

Conclusion. The Conception of the School as a 
Social Institution 

(1) The School as a Means of Control through the Trans- 
mission of Tradition and Culture. We have seen that when 
schools first arose they were institutions in which a sacred 
hterature containing the treasures of the experience of a 
people was the chief or sole subject of study. The greatly 
increased amount of such materials made the development of 
the school a necessity ; since literary treasures become dead 
and forgotten where there is no special means of keeping 
them alive and remaking in the experience of the oncoming 
generations those ideals and practices which they record. 
As the various means of education such as initiation and 
imitation, which in primitive hfe preceded the development 
of the school, were a means of social control, schools and 
school systems have always fulfilled the same function. But 
in the case of the school, until most recent times, training 
was given a chosen few who were enabled by the superiority 
of their intellectual, moral, and religious education to exercise 
authority over the masses. The school then was not a 
means of social control through direct contact with all 
classes of people, but an instrument of indirect control 
through the few who were able to take advantage of its 
benefits. 

(2) The Training of Leaders. The idea of training for 
leadership, mentioned in the preceding paragraph, as the 



Evolution of the Idea 31 

conception of the sole purpose of the school, is now outworn ; 
for the function of the school of to-day is to train the masses as 
well as the leaders. Still in that process of training, some- 
thing more than education goes on : it is a selective work 
through which certain characteristics are chosen as marking 
their possessors as worthy of increased training and increased 
opportunities. Under the dominance of the old disciplinary 
type of education the classics and mathematics acted as a 
sort of sieve which eliminated all who did not have that capac- 
ity for dealing with the abstract which they demanded. 
Thus a certain type of mental capacity was selected and 
provided with intellectual advantages which were denied all 
others. The conception to which we are now coming is that 
of offering equal opportunities to all for the development of 
such native capacity for leadership as they may have, re- 
gardless of any fixed curriculum or social status. The school 
is being remade in such a way as to give opportunities for 
the use and growth of initiative, originality, and leadership. 
Furthermore, leadership in the merely political sense is giving 
way to a conception which reaches all phases of hfe. 

(3) The School as a National Defense and a Source of 
Prosperity. The intense rivalries between nations, aug- 
mented by the industrial revolution and the conditions of 
modern commercial life, have called a large amount of atten- 
tion to the place which the school may have in furthering 
the economic development of a country, in making possible 
the most efficient use of its national resources, and in giving 
it some advantage in that international commercial warfare 
upon which a large amount of the prosperity of a country is 
supposed to depend. The school system of a nation thus 
becomes a means of defense against poverty within and 
rivals without. Such a view of education has a tendency to 
emphasize the national rather than the human conception of 
life; it tends to direct effort to the outstripping of other 
countries rather than to the overcoming of those foes which 



32 The School as a Social Institution 

threaten humanity in general, — such enemies as national 
suspicion and bitterness, class rivalries and hatreds, and a 
materialistic conception of life. 

(4) The School as an Instrument of Social Reform and 
Progress. When the young Pestalozzi sought a means of 
fighting poverty and ignorance, those two great enemies of 
society, he turned to education. Since his day there has 
been a growing belief in the value of the school as the one 
great weapon which society has for use in this fight for reform 
and progress. Between this view and the conception of the 
school as a treasure house of tradition and culture there is 
the peculiar enmity that always exists between the radical and 
the conservative. The latter insists upon emphasizing the 
good of the old ; the former, upon pointing out the advan- 
tages of the new while uncovering the weakness and badness 
of that which is. To the extent that the school is merely the 
transmitter of the culture of the past it may indeed be the 
enemy of progress ; but, since further advancement must be 
based upon what has already been gained, it would seem that 
these two ^dews concerning preserving the old and acquiring 
the new are antagonistic in appearance only. It is true, 
however, that most attempts to adjust the school to changing 
social conditions and to make it an institution which shall 
look to the future rather than to the past have been met with 
the fierce opposition of those who view education as the work 
of giving to succeeding generations the race inheritance. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Histories of Education: Davidson, Dextee, Duggan, Graves, 

Monroe, Parker. 
Brown, E. E., The Making of our Middle Schools. 
CuBBERLEY, E. P., Changing Conceptions of Education. 
Dewey, John, Democracy and Education, Chapter I, Education as 

a Necessity of Life. 
Eggleston, Edward, The Transit of a Civilization. 
Henderson, Ernest, Principles of Education. Pages 116-124. 



Evolution of the Idea 33 

King, Irving, Education for Social Efficiency. Chapter I. 

King, Irving, Social Aspects of Education. Chapter I. 

Smith, F. W., The High School. The development of secondary 
education is traced from primitive times to the present. 

Smith, W. H,., An Introduction to Educational Sociology. Chapter 
X, The Evolution of the Modern School. 

Spencer, Prank, Education of the Pueblo Child. 

SuzzALLO, Henry, The Rise of Local School Supervision in Massachu- 
setts. 

Thomas, W. I., Source Book for Social Origins. 

Updegraff, Harlan, The Origin of the Moving School in Massachu- 
setts. 

U. S. Bureau of Education Bulletin, 1913, No. 28. Expressions on 
Education by American Statesmen and Publicists. 



CHAPTER II 
THE SOCIAL IDEALS OF THE SCHOOL 



When society reaches that stage of development in which prog- 
ress is definitely sought and planned for, the stage of conscious 
evolution, it is not enough that the individual be educated simply 
that he may attain his own selfish ends. Each individual is a part 
of the organic whole, and in his functioning it is the good of the 
whole which is of paramount importance. The aim of education 
must, then, be broad enough to include both the welfare of the 
individual and the good ofjsociety. — G. D. Strayer, A Brief Course 
in the Teaching Process, page 2. 



Our study of the school as a social institution has led us 
through a consideration of the nature of the school as it has 

evolved historically, a study which will be sup- 
deais'witti^'^ plemented in later chapters by a survey of the 
ideals and ways in which the various forces and institutions 
towMTd^Ufe ^^ society determine the school and are in turn 
as the influenced by it. While an attempt to determine 

the school ^^® social ideals of the school may well lead to the 

consideration of what the school is or what it 
should be as an institution doing an important social work, it 
is the purpose of this chapter to deal rather with the products, 
the qualities, the attitudes toward life, that may be set up 
as the desired ends of that education in which the school 
performs an important part. The school as an idealized 
home, as an epitome of society, or as an idealized society, — 
such topics were briefly treated in the chapter on the evolu- 
tion of the conception of the school ; and it is not the purpose 

34, 



The Social Ideals of the School 35 

here to continue the discussion from that point of view. 
We must now inquire into the details which we may expect 
to appear as the results of the work of the school, having in 
mind the individual as well as the social institutions or forces 
which have hitherto claimed our attention. That is to say, 
conduct or ideals of conduct will be the terms with which 
this chapter deals. We must determine the phases of charac- 
ter which the school as a social institution should attempt 
to develop or assist in developing. Our present concern 
then is not to point out what the school is to be or to do, but 
rather what is to be the human outcome of this being and 
doing. In a later discussion of such topics as the organiza- 
tion of the school, the curriculum, and kindred matters, will 
be shown how the various resources at the command of the 
school may be turned to the reahzation of these ideals which 
are here considered. 

The Individual and Society 

A casual glimpse of the human world seems to show that 
it is a great mass of individuals, each seeking his own welfare, 
following his own interests, being and doing what society is 
his own nature determines ; but a closer study re- composed 
veals the fact that there are many bonds which ^ass^f^ 
unite these human atoms into more or less coherent hiiman 
groups. Within these groups, which vary in size * °"^ 
and complexity, we find that the individual is continually 
giving and receiving. While he helps determine the nature 
of the group of which he is a part, he does not determine his 
own Self. If he is exceptionally strong he may compel the 
group to permit him to develop various characteristics 
which, while apparently beneficial to him, are dangerous to 
others and to the group itself. If he is weak, however, he is 
likely to be crushed by the mere mass, overwhelmed by 
mere social force. 

Theoretically we may have two extremes of human rela- 



36 The School as a Social Institution 

tionships: the one, in which the rights and capacities of 
Its relation- ^^^ individual are so absolutely predominant that 
ships are a there is no cohesion possible ; the other, in which 
beSJ^ee^^^^ the demands of society are so powerful that the 
absolute individual is a mere atom, existent only as a sort of 
uaiism'and imaginary element in the structure of society, 
social In reality, neither extreme exists, all forms of 

despotism society being more or less adequate harmoniza- 
tions of the two conflicting conceptions. In ancient 
Sparta may be seen an example of the idea of the State 
carried to that extreme form of socialization in which 
the individual exists apparently for the State alone. Even 
in Sparta, however, certain individualistic considerations 
modified the force of social despotism; for the individual 
was free to choose some of his human relationships ; and the 
State, for its own good, was compelled to refrain from requir- 
ing too great individual sacrifice. 

In contrast with Sparta is the modern representative 
democracy like the United States, in which there is very 
much of the belief that the State exists for the individual. 
Citizen A or Citizen B is not so much concerned with what 
he owes the State as he is with what personal benefits he can 
derive from his citizenship. But even with us the sense of 
social responsibihty is not lacking, as times of crisis always 
prove. 

It is the work of the school to help in the process of bring- 
ing harmony into the agelong conflict that has existed 
between individualism and social despotism. To 
woric^o^the *^^^ work must be added that of decreasing the 
school to friction between group and group ; for class war- 
harmonize ^^^^ ^^ ^^ ^^^^ ^ menace than is the danger of indi- 
these two vidual Subjection or general social incoherence. 
ideS*'*'''^ The school should not, for the sake of harmony, 
cry, ''Peace, peace; when there is no peace." 
It should work out clear ideas of its own relation to those 



The Social Ideals of the School 37 

ideals toward which democracy is striving; and then per- 
severe in its task of bringing the realization of those ideals 
continually nearer. 

In the struggle of individuaUsm against social despotism, 
in the conflict of group with group, the school must not be 
the tool of any class or party. It must be free to ^j^^ school 
strive toward that kind of perfect organization in must work 
which every individual shall have what is best for ^ei^^re of 
him and shall render to society the best that is in society, not 
him — in which there shall be no classes except ° ^ *^^®^ 
those determined by a harmonious interrelation of individual 
abilities and social needs. The school has generally been the 
instrument of a class rather than of society itself. Conse- 
quently in these days of universal education we need to 
keep clearly before us the ideal of the school as the insti- 
tution of all, lest we fall a prey to those ideas of class edu- 
cation and caste demarcation which have generally ruled the 
world. 

While the school should work toward a large ideal of 
social justice and social progress, it must set up for itself 
more immediate aims in the formation of charac- 
teristic virtues which it may hope to develop in its chapter 
students. The remainder of this chapter will deal ^^^^ ^* 

. the more 

With the more necessary elements that go to make immediate 
up that character in which is found one phase of ^^^^^ 

which 

the solution of the great social problem of adjust- ultimately 

ment and harmonization. The fundamental result in 

social 

moral characteristics, such as are set forth in a justice and 

code like the Ten Commandments, we shall take ^°"^ 

progress 

for granted, and deal with such themes as socia- 
bility, cooperation, tolerance, freedom, responsibility, initi- 
ative, intelHgence, love of truth, and justice. 



38 The School as a Social Institution 

Sociability and its Related Virtues 

In common with birds, beasts, and fishes, man has the 
gregarious instinct which is the foundation of the virtue of 
sociabihty. In a discXission of this topic McDougall says : 

"In civilized communities we may see evidence of the 
foundation operation of this instinct on every hand. For all but 
of sociabil- a few exceptional, and generally highly cultivated 
ity is gre- persons the one essential condition of recreation is being 
ganous- Qjjg ^f ^ crowd. The normal daily recreation of the popu- 

' lation of our towns is to go out in the evening and to walk 

up and down the streets in which the throng is densest — the Strand, 
Oxford Street, or the Old Kent Road ; and the smallest occasion — a 
foreign prince driving to a railway station or a Lord Mayor's Show — 
will line the streets for hours with many thousands whose interest in 
the prince or the show alone would hardly lead them to take a dozen 
steps out of their way. On their few short holidays the working 
classes rush together from town and country alike to those resorts 
in which they are assured of the presence of a large mass of their 
fellows. It is the same instinct working on a slightly higher plane 
that brings tens of thousands to the cricket and football grounds on 
half -holidays. Crowds of this sort exert a greater fascination and 
afford a more complete satisfaction of the gregarious instinct than 
the mere aimless aggregations of the streets, because all their 
members are simultaneously concerned with the same objects, 
all are moved by the same emotions, all shout and applaud together. 
It would be absurd to suppose that it is merely the individuals' 
interest in the game that brings these huge crowds together. What 
proportion of the ten thousand witnesses of a football match would 
stand for an hour or more in the wind and rain, if each man were 
isolated from the rest of the crowd and saw only the players? 

"Even cultured minds are not immune to the fascinations of the 
herd. Who has not felt it as he has stood at the Mansion House 
crossing or walked down Cheapside? How few prefer at nightfall 
the lonely Thames Embankment, full of mysterious poetry as the 
barges sweep slowly onward with the flood-tide, to the garish 
crowded Strand a few hundred yards away ! We cultivated persons 
say to ourselves, when we yield to this fascination, that we are taking 
an intelligent interest in the life of the people. But such intellectual 
interest plays but a small part, and beneath works the powerful im- 
pulse of this ancient instinct." (Social Psychology, pages 86, 87.) 



The Social Ideals of the School 39 

Mere herding together, however, is not evidence of sociabil- 
ity. Like schools of rock bass which cloud the waters of 
some little inland lake, selfish to the point of cannibalistic 
egg-stealing, men may feel the impulse of the gregarious 
instinct without rising to the level of sociabiHty. LoneUness 
within the crowd is a phenomenon of such common obser- 
vation that its mere mention seems trite ; while the actual 
isolation of thousands of our city dwellers is a but this is 
matter of great concern to every person who not all 
looks for solutions of our urban problems. The individual 
may be so influenced by the gregarious instinct that he is 
unwilhng to live outside the centers of population and still be 
unwilling or unable to assume that relationship which will 
make him social or sociable. 

Sociability means, or should mean, more than mere fond- 
ness of companionship. It should imply fitness 
for such companionship. The selfishness which companion- 
makes the individual willing to enjoy the benefits ship and an 
and pleasures of society without serious regard ^clal^om- 
for participation or reciprocal giving is so opposed sdousness 
to genuine sociabihty that it should be considered ^^°*"^' 
not merely non-social but anti-social. 

Like the crude fighting, predatory, acquisitive, and imita- 
tive instincts, which the influence of civilized society refines, 
directs, and uses for ends that are nobler than those of primi- 
tive life, the gregarious instinct must be remade if it is to 
serve its higher purposes. As the primitive fighting instinct 
may be directed to moral ends, gregariousness must rise 
to the level of intelligent social consciousness if it is not 
to be merely oxlike. Interest in others, regard for their 
well-being, and consideration of their rights must be added 
to gregariousness in order to lift it above the merely 
animal. 

As schools become organized into great systems, especially 
when overcrowding is a common characteristic, there is a 



40 The School as a Social Institution 

marked tendency toward herding. The teacher continually 
faces the temptation to be a mere keeper of 
s^fe^s ^^® flock, a refined sort of cowboy without spurs, 
show the lasso, or sombrero, — master or director of the 
that^mere ^^^^ ^^^ consequently too little a creator or 
herding of developer of sociability. This is a tendency as 

Jrevenme ^^^ ^^ *^^* ^^^^^ would make of sociability 
growth of nothing more than the enjoyment of social pleas- 
sociability ^^®^ without due regard for the serious work that 
is the foundation of all education. 

Sociability does not mean a meddling interest in the affairs 
of others any more than it means a disregard of all matters 
Meaning of that are not of immediate concern to ourselves, 
sociability j^ (joes not mean neglect of our own tasks and 
responsibilities for the sake of mere friendly association with 
others ; nor does it imply that officiousness and obnoxious 
inquisitiveness which are often mistaken for social interest. 
But it means a friendly attitude toward others, considera- 
tion of their welfare, a desire to work with them for things of 
common interest. It is the foundation of cooperation. 

That social goodwill which children seem instinctively 

to have for all other children, rich or poor, high or low, must 

through insight be born anew in the adult. He 
Education i , t pi ,^ -, 

must must learn to see beyond the Imes of class, through 

develop the ^]^e disguise of material poverty, and through the 

necessary . -n • ^ i it- • ^ • ^ 

insight various artificial and natural distinctions which 

and good- hinder the development of sociability. In spite of 
all tendencies toward isolation and group segrega- 
tion he should develop that breadth of vision and that depth 
of sympathy which are essential in humanizing life and 
education. 

Cooperation 

In the pioneer days of our national history the opportunities 
and needs for cooperation were relatively slight. In rural 



The Social Ideals of the School 41 

life there was an effective working together of the various 

members of the family ; and in cases of emergency the 

whole community or whole colony might cooperate 

in meeting a danger which threatened all, — unit- . * ® 
<=> <-' ' pioneer 

ing to hunt some wild beast or to fight the Indian, period of 
Neighborly assistance in times of sickness or on there^was^' 
such occasions as barn raisings, harvesting, and littie 
threshing was generally to be had in cases where oppo^'t^^ty 
it was needed. Still, under the conditions of cooperation 
pioneer Ufe cooperation was generally slightly °^^^ "^® 
organized and limited in scope. Even in the Rev- 
olutionary War, which demanded the attention of all, lack of 
experience in working together was a great hindrance to 
success. After the auspicious beginning of cooperation on'a 
large scale in a successful war for independence, it was pos- 
sible to break down colonial isolation and consummate that 
political union which made the thirteen colonies a nation. 

For about a generation after the Revolutionary War our 
industries were principally agricultural ; while common 

interests and common needs were not evident in ^ , 

Later 

the isolation which was generally characteristic of develop- 
our life. From about the time of the War of 1812, f ^'^^ I|f 

• brought 

however, there began a period of great industrial about 

development. Thesteamboat, the railroad, canals, "^^^^s^^ 

and machinery of every kind brought tremendous demand 

changes in the nature of our industries, broke ^^^^ ^°''® 

... . 1 general 

down much of the isolation which had existed, and cooperation 
presented the need of cooperation in fields other 
than military and political. 

"Since that time, the whole aspect of our life has been changed. 
The raikoad has made communication easy and cheap. It is five 
hours from Boston to New York now, instead of five days. The 
telegraph and the submarine cable have annihilated space and 
time. It no longer takes four weeks to get news from England, or 
three months from Manila or Hong Kong. The telephone has made 



42 The School as a Social Institution 

us all neighbors, and enables a single person to-day to transact the 
business formerly done by ten or twelve. The many labor-saving 
devices enable us greatly to increase our capacity for despatching 
work and have largely increased our effectiveness, while they have 
at the same time freed us and our children of the necessity of doing 
much of the laborious work which people in earlier times were 
compelled to do. The necessities of life have been cheapened and 
brought within the reach of almost all. We of to-day belong to the 
world instead of to a county, we have the conveniences of the world 
at our doors, and we have large amounts of leisure time for service, 
amusement, or personal improvement which used to be demanded 
by the necessities of mere physical existence." (Cubberley, Chang- 
ing Conceptions of Education, page 7.) 

All this means that the individual has ceased to be suffi- 
cient unto himself, that the family is no longer an adequate 
cooperative group, that even the neighborhood, the state, 
the nation are all confronted with the practical need of such 
general cooperation as once existed only in the dreams of 
idealists. Important problems of international importance 
are forcing American nations to consider the value of a Pan- 
American entente; the longing for permanent peace may 
yet make a federation of the world a reality. 

The growth of cooperation has been chiefly within groups 
of people who have been forced to it through economic neces- 
Actualneed ^^^^^ '^^^ workers in various industries, finding 
has been that individual competition is inimical to their 
factor in interests, have organized unions in which they can 
developing secure through cooperative effort better working 
cooperation conditions, shorter hours, and higher wages ; like- 
wise, manufacturers, mine owners, and merchants have 
among united in various groups to eliminate the friction, 

workers waste, and uncertainty that accompany lack of 
coordinate effort. Even teachers are beginning to feel the 
need of cooperation within their group ; and, most striking of 
all, farmers, bound by tradition to a kind of isolation which 
is rapidly disappearing, are learning to cooperate in producing, 



The Social Ideals of the School 43 

buying, and selling. In fields where the motive is phil- 
anthropic rather than economic, unorganized individual 
effort is giving way to united action. Charity, and in 
which was once left to individual generosity almost philanthropy 
entirely, has been organized for the sake of greater effective- 
ness. Prison reform, prohibition, child welfare, and the 
warfare against vice and disease are all showing the effects 
of the growing spirit of cooperation. 

When we inquire into the meaning of cooperation, we 
discover that the fundamental idea of working together is 
modified by two conflicting conceptions, — the 
one autocratic, the other democratic. According mar'be**'*'" 
to the first, the chief essential in effective coopera- autocratic 
tion is subservience of all inferiors to duly con- ^^h**'^ 
stituted authorities. It is the function of the 
controlling powers to plan and direct, of the rest of the 
corporate being to obey. This is the military conception 
of cooperation. In its crassest form it means that certain 
each member of a group is to be a perfect part in a advantages ; 
perfect machine, in which the highest function of any part is 
to keep its place, do its work, and respond always to the 
will of the directing force. In an ideal form this is the scheme 
of Plato's RepubUc, in which the philosopher rules, the 
soldier defends, and the worker supports. 

For pure efficiency in immediate and tangible results this 
form of cooperation is eminently satisfactory. It enables 
the factory to turn out goods in maximum quantities at 
minimum cost ; it gives a school system a kind of mechanical 
perfection which delights a certain narrow-minded type of 
principal or superintendent ; it even enables a highly cen- 
traUzed government to organize its industrial resources so 
effectively that it can outstrip rival nations. 

Any successful industrial organization is almost certain 
to exemplify this type of cooperation. When the board of 
directors, the president, or the superintendent has formulated 



44 The School as a Social Institution 

any course of action, each member of the working force 
cooperates by doing exactly what he is told as loyally and 
efficiently as he can. But each must know his place and 
keep it, whether his motive is merely to hold his job or to 
render all the service he can to the organization of which he 
is a part. Jealousy of other workers, envy of higher officials, 
and indeed any lack of satisfaction with his place in the 
general scheme of things must not prevent the individual 
from giving the organization the service for which he is paid. 
Whether subordinate or superior, each must fit into his 
place in the machine. 

In contrast with this centralized system of cooperation is 
that which is to be found in voluntary groups and in popular 
governments. Here we find an association of 
cratic with equals working together in a democratic way. In- 
other stead of loyalty to another person, superior in rank, 
there is loyalty to the institution or to the ideal 
which it represents. Interest in a common end and a some- 
what evenly distributed amount of intelligence are necessary 
for effective cooperation in this form of society. More is 
left to voluntary effort, and consequently less is demanded 
by authority. There must be willingness to give as well as 
to receive, to listen as well as to speak, to lead as well as to 
follow. Yet the individual is free to express his opinions, to 
assent or dissent, to have his share in determining the general 
course of affairs. 

Evidently this type of cooperation is not adapted to the 
needs of an army, a business organization, or indeed any 
kind of association in which there is a great differ- 
is adapted ence between the planning on the one hand and the 
to certain execution of the work on the other. That it is the 
most desirable basis of government we in America 
firmly believe ; but that it yields a maximum of good results 
is a conclusion which we have not yet demonstrated to the 
satisfaction of the rest of the world, — and cannot until our 



The Social Ideals of the School 45 

civic loyalty and intelligence reach a plane where we remove 
the abuses which now cling to our democracy. ■ 

In our political affairs we have theoretical cooperation of 
several millions of equals, but very often practical domina- 
tion by a self-chosen few. In municipal affairs we have been 
having waves of increased interest in matters of general con- 
cern to such an extent that the outlook for the future is very 
hopeful ; but universal cooperation even in such important 
matters as pubUc health, clean streets, or good schools is a 
degree of excellence which is yet to be attained. 

Different as the two types of cooperation seem to be, every 
individual needs to be able to give both. While the school 
system of a government that is essentially auto- 
cratic or of a society that is basically aristocratic ^[-^i^^i 
will strive only to develop that type in which the should 
masses are content to fit into their preordained g^ygVoth 
places and yield loyal obedience to whatever their 
masters demand, the schools of a democratic people must help 
in giving their children at least the foundation of those ideals 
of cooperation which will enable them to fit into an industrial 
world which demands efficiency first of all and into a general 
social and political world where give and take upon a basis of 
equaUty is the rule. Our great danger Ues in an interpreta- 
tion of individualism which makes each less willing to work 
with others than to have them work with him. Our ideas of 
freedom are still in a rather crude state and we are too much 
inchned to think that liberty means absence of responsibiUty. 

The school of the future must do much to destroy the 
idea that each individual is free to go his own ^j^^ school 
way without regard for those great interests which should help 
demand the cooperative effort of every citizen. It i^J^is^of 
must help develop ideals of true cooperation and cooperation 
give some practice in the art of working harmoni- gomractual 
ously with others for the attainment of ends that practice in 
are of value to all. *^® "* 



46 The School as a Social Institution 

In order that cooperation may be effective, certain other 
ideas must be emphasized. Among them are tolerance, 
freedom, responsibility, obedience, initiative, and intelligence. 
These qualities are to be considered in the following sections. 

Tolerance 

Few natural human characteristics have been more harm- 
ful to progress than intolerance. Primitive and backward 

people are averse by nature to new ideas and prac- 
tolerance tices, the relation between ignorance and intoler- 
has been a ance seeming to be direct. The lower the intelli- 
proCTcss" gence of an individual or a group, the greater is the 

hostility to that which is different from traditional 
ways of hving. Thus ignorance causes intolerance; and 
intolerance in turn fosters ignorance. 

People need not be bad morally in order to suffer from the 
vice of intolerance, as we may see from the persecutions 

which accompanied the Reformation period in 
people may Europe and America, or from the attitude of the 
be intoi- Church in the Middle Ages. J. B. Bury, in the 

following passage from the chapter on " Reason in 
Prison " in his History of Freedom of Thought, shows how 
people with the best of intentions may fall far from the 
ideals of charity which are supposed to characterize true 
religion. 

^'' "During the two centuries in whicli they have been a forbidden 
sect the Christians had claimed toleration on the ground that 
religious belief is voluntary and not a thing which can be enforced. 
When then: faith became the predominant creed and had the power 
of the State behind it, they abandoned this view. They embarked 
on the hopeful enterprise of bringing about a complete uniformity 
of men's opinions on the mysteries of the universe, and began a 
more or less definite policy of coercing thought. This policy was 
adopted by Emperors and Governments partly on political grounds ; 
religious divisions, bitter as they were, seemed dangerous to the 
unity of the State. But the fundamental principle lay in the doc- 



The Social Ideals of the School 47 

trine that salvation is to be found exclusively in the Christian Church. 
The profound conviction that those who did not believe its doctrines 
would be damned eternally, and that God punishes theological 
error as if it were the most heinous of crimes, led naturally to persecu- 
tion. It was a duty to impose on men the only true religion, seeing 
that their own eternal interests were at stake, and to hinder errors 
from spreading. Heretics were more than ordinary criminals and 
the pains that man could inflict on them were as nothing to the 
tortures awaiting them in hell. To rid the earth of men who, how- 
ever virtuous, were, through their religious errors, enemies of the 
Almighty, was a plain duty. Their virtues were no excuse. We 
must remember that, according to the humane doctrine of the 
Christians, pagan, that is, merely human, virtues were vices, and 
infants who died unbaptized passed the rest of time in creeping on 
the floors of hell. The intolerance arising from such views could 
not but differ in kind and intensity from anything that the world 
had yet witnessed." (Page 52.) 

The beginning of modern times saw humanity with hardly 
an inkhng of the great truth that intolerance is the worst 
enemy of those very things which it seeks to pro- xoierance 
tect. Even the soil of America, the home of the has been 
oppressed of all nations, was, in colonial days, g^^^enj^ 
stained with the blood of the victims of bigotry and American 
intolerance. Within the past few years, even the ® 
police in some of our cities have taken it upon themselves to 
try to combat unpopular ideas by those intolerant methods 
which history has shown to be effective only in arousing 
sympathy for the persecuted. So hard has it been to appre- 
ciate one of the most important lessons that man has ever 
learned ! 

The chief demand of tolerance is a willingness to bear with 
the views of those who disagree with us. This impUes an 
attitude which does not deny at least good motives 

Tolcrfliicc 

to those whom we consider our foes. To this must demands 
be added a desire to take a broad view of human breadth of 
Ufe and human problems and to understand other 
people and their opinions. Even a willingness to be con- 



48 The School as a Social Institution 

vinced if we are wrong, a supposition which all instinctively 
abhor, is a mark of perfect tolerance. Such characteristics 

as the foregoing, however, do not mean a letting 
lowering of down of our moral standards, nor a leniency 
moral toward vice ; but they call for a willingness to 

permit others to follow the right as they see it 
even though their vision may not agree with ours. The 
idea of tolerance does not mean an easy philosophy of life 
which winks at vice and sees no great causes worth fighting 
for; but it means that we must grant to others the same 
freedom to strive for their ideals as we demand in seeking to 
attain our own. 

Tolerance is justified by its results just as intolerance is 
condemned by its fruits. In the chains of the latter the 
Tolerance is i^i^ellect languishes and progress is almost impos- 
justified by sible. In social life, in political affairs, and even 
Its fruits ^^ religion, tolerance is the great essential to 
growth. This is one of the lessons which the school must 
imprint indelibly upon the minds of oncoming generations ; 
for it has made Americanism possible and it is as necessary 
for keeping what we have gained as for making further prog- 
ress. Without it cooperation in the great affairs of our 
national life is an empty dream. 

The outlook is very hopeful; for bigotry is 
still has a compelled to hide itself and work in darkness, 
great work g^t the struggle is not yet ended. Class is still 
helping intolerant of class ; church, of church ; party, of 

destroy party. The school as a builder of ideals has still 

a great work to do in helping destroy such remains 
of medieval and barbarous intolerance as have managed to 
survive in spite of the progress of the centuries. 

Feeedom 

Since the time of Rousseau, educational theory has been 
influenced very much by the concept of freedom. But 



The Social Ideals of the School 49 

ideas of political freedom, theories of freedom of the will, 
the relation between native endowment and 
environment, the difficulty of distinguishing be- l^uggeau 
tween physical and intellectual liberty, — all these the doctrine 
have made it rather hard to discover just what is has'^at^-*^"™ 
meant by freedom. In general, however, the prog- tracted 
ress of individuahsm has meant a development Mention 
of the idea. 

Rousseau, in his highly emotional manner, deplores the 
fact that while man is meant by Nature to be free he is 
everywhere in chains. Tradition, custom, and „. .^ 
government as it is, all seem so full of arti- was largely 
ficiality that freedom can be attained only by a ^"^ °ot 
remaking of the world. In the mind of Rousseau, individ- 
this freedom seems to have meant an adequate "^^tic 
opportunity for the individual to develop those powers 
which are implanted in him by Nature and to live the 
kind of Hfe which his unfolding powers dictate. It must 
be noted, however, that this idea of freedom is balanced 
by a conception of the importance of subjection, not to 
human authority, but to " the heavy yoke of necessity, 
under which every finite being must bow." Rousseau's 
advice concerning the boy is, " Let him find the necessity 
in things, not in the caprices of man ; let the curb be the 
force of conditions, not authority." 

From the beginning furnished by Rousseau has grown 
much of the later conception of freedom in education. In 
the theory of Pestalozzi, it appears in the defini- 
tion of education as the harmonious development ^^ *^°*^" 

^ tnne has 

of all the powers of the individual. In the doc- been 

trine of Herbart, it takes a Greek coloring and °^°fifi®'* 
' .by later 

appears as the conception of inner freedom, theorists 
Froebel takes the idea and makes it one of the 
foundation stones of the kindergarten. 

More recently Madame Montessori has applied the 



50 The School as a Social Institution 

theory in the education of young children in such a way 
as to attract much attention. Freedom is allowed in mak- 
ing choice of the form of activity which appeals 
Montessori most to the pupil. The so-called didactic appara- 
emphasizes ^Qg ^g ^ot made the basis of formal lessons, as was 

tii6 idcfl 

Pestalozzi's idea of the object lesson ; but it is 
given to the pupil as he wishes to use it, whether or not the 
particular material which he wishes to use is then suited 
to his ability. But so difl&cult is it to realize the ideal of 
freedom, that even here, as Dr. Kilpatrick ^ has pointed out, 
the nature of the apparatus itself is a practical obstacle. 
Each piece of apparatus is as definitely prescriptive as if 
the teacher were required to explain and direct ; for a cer- 
tain thing is to be done with each and the exercises are " self- 
correcting." The important matter, however, is the ideal 
of permitting the child to choose his own work and his own 
time for doing it. 

. In the theory of Professor John Dewey, less attention is 
given to mere physical freedom and more to a larger moral 
_ , and intellectual freedom. The individual should 

Prof© ssor 

John have opportunity to express himself; but this 

Dewey lays ^qq^ not mean that caprice shall sacrifice the good 
moral and of others without social checks. "Liberty for 
intellectual, i\^q child is the chance to test all impulses and 
mere tendencies on the world of things and people in 

physical, which he finds himself, sufficiently to discover 
their character so that he may get rid of those 
that are harmful, and develop those that are useful to 
himself and others." {Schools of To-morrow, page 138.) 
To the possible objection that such freedom will degenerate 
into anarchy Dewey says, " Give a child freedom to find 
out what he can and cannot do, both in the way of what is 
physically possible and what his neighbors will stand for, 

1 The Montessori System Critically Examined. 



The Social Ideals of the School 51 

and he will not waste much time on impossibilities but 
will bend his energies to the possibilities. The physical 
and mental inquisitiveness of children can be turned into 
positive channels. The teacher will find the spontaneity, 
the liveliness, and initiative of the pupil aids in teaching, 
instead of being, as under the coercive system, nuisances 
to be repressed. The very things that are now inter- 
ferences will become positive qualities that the teacher is 
cultivating." (Schools of To-morrow, page 129.) There is 
here no fear of liberty, no tendency to substitute a dis- 
guised form of coercion for real freedom to be, to do, to 
experiment, to develop. 

While there is something inherently attractive about the 
very idea of freedom, humanity has never yet reached a 
stage of development in which the desired kind and ^, . 
amount of liberty has existed for all in every phase difficult to 
of life. Even in our Democracy, where there is ^^^^^ 

,\' . freedom 

an unparalleled range of political liberty, the and apply 

schools are criticized very often for their lack of '* ^ *^® 

•^ school 

freedom. As a matter of fact, the idea of free- 
dom has never been clearly defined in such a way as to find 
general acceptance. Perhaps it is just as well that the idea 
is somewhat hazy. Such a condition keeps us from being 
too anxious to be consistent in our theory and practice ! 
We are left a wider range for the adjustment of other 
ideas than we should have if we were tied down to -a 
definition. 

In the field of education, however, it is near the time when 
we must determine what is to be our attitude toward free- 
dom in a full sense. It seems that the idea must 
be interpreted in a progressive form ; that is, that ^^ to be^ 
as the child grows in physical strength, intellectual interpreted 
power, and moral character, he must be accorded ll°^y^' 
an increasingly wider freedom in conduct, in 
choice of work, and indeed in whatever ways he finds neces- 



52 The School as a Social Institution 

sary and desirable in his development. Even here we face 
a paradox ; for while the weakness and inexperience of the 
child make it wise to limit his freedom, it is only through 
wide freedom that he can develop properly. 

Responsibility : The Sense of Duty 

The educational theory of the twentieth century shows 
a growing tendency to emphasize freedom in education, 
while there is a corresponding disposition to lay 
demands stress upon responsibility. It is the harmonizing 
responsi- Qf these two Conflicting ideals that offers one of the 
fundamental problems in moral education as well 
as in intellectual; and it is here that the real solution of 
the problem of freedom is to be found. When a human 
being has to be compelled by physical force or any other 
external means to conduct himself in a manner that will 
keep him from conflict with the rights of others, there is a 
very obvious curtailment of liberty; but this is necessary 
where the individual sets his desires against the social will. 
The solution of the difficulty is found in such a development 
of the feeling of responsibility and duty as will substitute 
self-direction for external control. 

The importance of the sense of responsibility can hardly 

be overemphasized in our modern life. Without it there 

is but caprice, unreliability, uncertainty, and 

Got demo- distrust. Its emphasis at the present time is 

crane . . 

institutions especially important because of the fact that 

have great throughout our entire national existence the doc- 
need of a '^ 

type of trine of individual hberty has been so much em- 

education phasized that we have been in danger of losing 
emphasizes that very thing which makes freedom possible 
b^ut^*^^^' ^^^ valuable, — the sense of personal responsi- 
bihty. Millions of ahens have been coming to 
our shores lured by the magic of Liberty quite as much as 
by the prospect of material wealth. They have added 



The Social Ideals of the School 53 

to the ah'eady great problem of instilling in the native popu- 
lation an adequate sense of responsibihty as a means of 
giving balance to the more attractive ideal of freedom. 

The Athenians had a practice which is full of suggestion 
for us. The civic training of the youth placed great stress 
upon the responsibilities of citizenship ; and the 
actual joining of the ranks of the citizens fol- furnishes a 
lowed an examination on civic duties and the suggestion 
taking of a solemn obligation to assume the responsibilities 
of citizenship and fulfill all those demands which such an 
obligation implied. In American life to-day we need some 
modern method of impressing similar lessons of responsi- 
bility for the welfare and progress of the State ; freedom is 
coming to exist too much for itself alone. 

The mere preaching of duty will not accomplish this 
desirable end. But the ideal of duty, which is one of the 
highest which humanity has developed, may, with 
much benefit, be emphasized more than it has ^,^® essence 

. . of responsi- 

been in our history. It needs an emotional color- biuty is the 
ing which will give it an overpowering force in ^®°^® °^ 
the Uves of our citizens. The need of emphasis 
upon duty is not merely civic ; it applies to every phase of 
life in which one person has relationships with others. The 
making of a man means the development of ideals of re- 
sponsibility and the assuming of obligations and duties more 
than anything else. The very backbone of character is the 
idea of duty. 

Initla-tive 

In a static society, as the individual is supposed to re- 
main where the accident of birth has placed him, initiative 
is more likely to be considered a fault than esteemed a 
virtue. If the individual strikes out upon new paths in- 
stead of following the ways which have been estabhshed by 
custom, he is a menace to the established order. But in 



54 The School as a Social Institution 

a country where classes of population are continually shift- 
ing, where new possibilities are presented daily in business, 
politics, and social relationships, both social and individual 
needs place a premium upon initiative. 

It has always been the tendency of the formal educational 
system to discourage initiative and insist that the individual 
Formal devote all his energy to a mastery of the material 

education which is set before him. For this reason it is es- 
tends to pecially necessary that the schools of to-day 
neglect magnify the ideal of initiative as one of the quali- 

imtiative ^^^^ most worthy of cultivation. A marked effort 
is necessary to overcome the inertia of generations of teachers 
who have looked upon docility as the chief virtue in the 
learner. 

Initiative is not to be confused with mere energy or effort 
to accomplish. Some of the hardest work in the world is 
' . being done by those who are totally lacking in 
more than initiative. Often their very lack of this quality 
mere effort condemns them to lives of drudgery. Initiative 
goes ahead without being told what to do and how to do it. 
It leads instead of following along as an imitator of those 
who have already found the ways of efficiency. It over- 
comes the fear of newness and the dread of failure. Hence, 
it is one of the foundation stones of progress. 

It may se'em that this is a quality which men have or have 
not according to their natural endowment; and that it is 
consequently futile for the school to attempt to 
encouraged supply what Nature has failed to provide. This 
in the may be true ; but it is still the function of educa- 

tion to see that where Nature has provided the 
material it is not wasted through wrong methods. Even 
though all are not equally endowed with initiative, and 
even though some may lack it altogether, it is still worth 
while for the school to encourage it and to make great efforts 
to the end that such as do possess it in some degree shall 



The Social Ideals of the School 55 

have theii' talent increased by use; for much of social 
progress (if not all indeed) must come through the ex- 
periences of those who have the courage to seek out new 
ways, to begin new things. 

Justice 

As the chief of all social ideals, indeed the sum of all, 
we may name justice. When Plato was seeking a defini- 
tion of the term, he found it necessary to construct 

Tiistic6 is 

an ideal Republic, in which each person and each the sum of 
class of society worked harmoniously with every au social 
other. This harmony of relationship in which 
no one imposed upon another, in which each gave the best 
that was in him and in return received from all their best, 
was what he conceived to be the highest form of justice. 
With all the complexity of modern social relationships and 
all the friction of individuals, groups, and classes, we can 
hardly do better than go back to Plato's ideal as the most 
suitable and most satisfactory expression of that for which 
society has always been striving. 

The ideal of justice in the school must be progressive. 
In the lower grades we must begin with rather crude con- 
cepts of fair play, in which the young child begins 
to learn to consider something more than his own mentln^he' 
immediate advantage or his desire to have or to school is 
win. The idea that others have rights as well as p''°^®^^'^® 
duties is a discovery which must have an emotional setting, 
perhaps best secured by having an imaginary change of 
relationships. Very young children even are able to im- 
agine themselves in the place of another and to visualize the 
things that would then be due themselves, — a process 
which is very likely to be accompanied by a certain amount 
of feehng. Mere imagination, however, is not an adequate 
foundation for the sense of fairness which is fundamental 
in the concept of justice. Children must learn through 



50 The School as a Social Institution 

actual association the practical necessity of fair dealing 
with others as a prerequisite to securing similar treatment 
from them. Natural tendencies to get and keep without 
regard for the desires or rights of others must be modified 
through results which are thrown back upon the aggressor. 
In such beginnings is the foundation of the ideal of social 
justice. With the increase in knowledge, in breadth of 
view, and in capacity to deal with more abstract ideas, 
which come with progress through school, there should be 
a corresponding increase in the breadth and clearness of the 
concept of justice. An ideal which at first applies to a 
very limited range of childish experiences must develop in 
such a way that it will include a maximum number of human 
relationships without losing any of the immediate forceful- 
ness which it had in its narrower beginnings. The adoles- 
cent range of vision and emotionalism offers a favorable 
opportunity for the development of the ideal into a form 
which will serve as a guide in later life. If it becomes a 
proper combination of insight and feehng it will be no mere 
abstraction, but a strong force in the modification and con- 
trol of conduct. 

Summary 

While the whole of morality is based upon social relation- 
ships and every virtue has a social significance, we have 
taken in this discussion only a few of those ideal phases of 
character which have exceptionally important social bear- 
ings. Growing out of man's native tendencies to associate 
with his fellows and the needs of such association is the 
practice or ideal of cooperation, which is one of the most 
necessary characteristics of any form of society. Coopera- 
tion may be of the autocratic or the democratic type : the 
former demanding that each " follow orders " without 
question or suggestion ; the latter affording freer helpful- 
ness upon a basis of equality, modified by the necessities 



The Social Ideals of the School 57 

of leadership and control. For immediate effectiveness 
the autocratic type, represented by mihtary organization, 
is superior; but in those relationships in which success 
depends upon a free working together of equals, the demo- 
cratic type is the only possibility. On account of the need of 
voluntary cooperation in a democracy it is necessary that the 
schools in their organization and administration modify the 
ordinary autocratic form in the direction of the democratic. 

As fundamental characteristics in effective cooperation, 
there are tolerance and freedom. Without the former the 
entire social fabric is torn by conflicting ideas and interests. 
One of the great functions of the school, especially the public 
school, is to break down the barriers of ignorance and bigotry 
which have in the past kept common humanity from that 
friendly cooperation which is the basis of progress. In 
freedom is the chief quality for the making of satisfactory 
social and individual progress ; but the ideal of freedom 
must be balanced by a sense of responsibility. On account 
of the natural attractiveness of freedom and the fact that 
American hfe has made the word a fetich, it is especially 
necessary to emphasize the doctrine of duty. 

A characteristic which must be cultivated with great 
diligence, if society is to be progressive rather than static, 
is initiative. The despotisms of the past, in order to main- 
tain an established order, seemed to find it necessary to 
restrict initiative within the narrowest possible limits ; but the 
modern democracy cannot afford to pay the price of petrifac- 
tion for the sake of avoiding the dangers of possible change 
and disorder arising from a very free individual initiative. 

As an epitome of all social and individual virtues stands 
justice. In the school it is necessary that this ideal be 
progressive. The crude conception of fair dealing which 
the child early acquires must be developed into a broad 
ideal which has the necessary emotional coloring to turn it 
from a mere abstraction into an active life process. 



58 The School as a Social Institution 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Bagley, W. C, Are the Older "School Virtues" becoming Obsoles- 
cent ? In Journal of the N.E.A. 1 : 945-949. 
Betts, G. H., Social Principles of Education. Chapter III, Aim in 

Education. 
Btjry, J. B., History of Freedom of Thought. 
Butler, N. M., The Meaning of Education (Revised edition). 

Chapter V, Five Evidences of an Education ; Chapter XVIII, 

Discipline and the Social Aim. 
Dewey, John, Democracy and Education. Chapter VII, The 

Democratic Conception of Education ; Chapter VIII, Aim in 

Education; Chapter IX, Natural Development and Social 

Efficiency as Aims. 
Earhart, Lida B., Types of Teaching. Chapter III, What the 

School should Accomplish. 
Eliot, Charles W., Education for Efficiency. 
KiLPATRicK, William H., The Montessori System Critically 

Examined. 
McDouGALL, William, Social Psychology. Chapter XII, The 

Gregarious Instinct. 
Montessori, Maria, The Montessori Method. Translation by 

Anna E. George. 
O'Shea, M. v.. Social Development and Education. Chapters I-IX, 

Typical Social Attitudes. 
Plato, The Republic. Book VII. 
Ross, E. A., Social Control. Chapter III, The Role of Sociability; 

Chapter IV, The Role of the Sense of Justice. 
Rousseau, J. J., Emile. 
Russell, James E., Education for Citizenship. Teachers College 

Record, March, 1916, pages 113-126. 
Scott, C. A., Social Education. Chapter XII, The Education of the 

Conscience. 
Strayer, George D., The Teaching Process. Chapter I, The 

Aim of Education. 
Thorndike, E. L., Education for Initiative and Originality. 

Teachers College Record, Nov., 1916, pages 405-416. 



CHAPTER III 
SOCIAL CONDITIONS WHICH CONTROL THE SCHOOL 



It ought to be essentially the business of the State to formulate a 
constructive policy for the education of the people of the State, and 
to change this policy from time to time as the changing needs of 
the State may seem to require. This may involve more than the 
mere regulation of schools, and may properly include such educa- 
tional agencies and efforts as libraries, playgrounds, health super- 
vision, and adult education. Instead of being a passive tax- 
gatherer and lawgiver, the State should become an active, energetic 
agent, working for the moral, intellectual, and social improvement 
and advancement of its people. — E. P. Cubberley, Public School 
Administration, page 25. 



When we speak of Society, we are often, if not always, in 
danger of dealing with a pure abstraction. While we are 
familiar with various social institutions, such as 
the family, the church, and the school, and with term "So- 
various social forces, such as pubHc opinion, cus- ciety"is 

liGrG used 

torn, and tradition, it is very difficult to form a 
working conception of Society as a whole. When we think of a 
society, we are generally certain to have in mind a more or 
less coherent group of people who are working together with 
common aims and interests ; but so diverse is what we call 
Society, often so apparently incoherent, always so stupen- 
dous and complex, that interpretation upon the basis of our 
own little experience with its parts seems weak and futile. 

In this discussion of the interrelations of School and 
Society, we shall consider how the school as a part of the 
whole is related to various other parts, especially how this 

59 



60 The School as a Social Institution 

agent of Society (in the broad sense) is determined by what- 
ever that Leviathan is, and how it in turn becomes a deter- 
miner of Society. It is the purpose here to see how social 
forces and institutions interact with the school to transmit 
the culture which the race has gained and to provide for 
further progress. 

The term " school " includes all institutions organized for 
purposes of instruction, whether controlled by State, Church, 
. philanthropic institution, or private individual ; 

meant by but the point of view which will naturally be most 
" School " often in mind is that of the school as the instru- 
ment of the State. Furthermore, the term must include 
every grade of school, — kindergarten, elementary and 
secondary institutions, colleges and universities, industrial, 
technical, and professional schools, and even special organi- 
zations for religious instruction, such as Sunday Schools, 
that is to say, the view is not to be limited by any narrow 
conception of purpose, control, curriculum, or nature of the 
process of instruction; although public elementary and' 
secondary schools will receive most consideration and in 
many cases little attention can be paid those institutions 
which are somewhat unique in character or relatively few 
in number and slight in social importance. 

The Influence of the Home upon the School 

In a very immediate sense the home is the foundation of 
the school, furnishing as it does the physical, intellectual, 
. and moral basis of the process of formal educa- 
the social tion. The importance of this fact is emphasized 
institution ]jy tj^g conditions which make the home not 
mateiy merely a preliminary to the school, but a con- 

related to tinuous influence throughout the entire school 
career of the great majority of children. Hence, 
of all the institutions that have a modifying influence upon 
the school the family is the most important. 



Social Conditions of the School 61 

As the school must not be an isolated institution, self- 
determining and self-directing, the work which it does ought 
to proceed from such beginnings as have already The work 
been made in the home. Comenius in the seven- °^ t^« 
teenth century and Froebel in the nineteenth, by proceed 
laying stress upon this obvious relationship, did ^^°^ . 
a great deal in modifying the character of the early made in 
years of school life. Comenius pointed out clearly *^® ^°™® 
the fact that the foundation of all later development 
(whether physical, intellectual, moral, or religious) must 
be laid in the home, the School of the Mother's Knee. 
Froebel, by the invention of the kindergarten, empha- 
sized the idea that the beginnings of school work must 
be closely connected with the experiences and spirit of the 
home. 

Whether or not there is any conscious recognition of the 
fact by the school, the discipline and the culture which are 
characteristic of the home have much to do with jhe lan- 
the effectiveness of teaching ; for example, the guage of 
character of the language used in the home may ™ 

afford the teacher a help that is invaluable or it may set a 
handicap which even the most energetic and skillful teaching 
cannot entirely overcome. 

Furthermore the sympathy and interest of the family are 
very lively and effective influences. Mary Antin, in The 
Promised Land, gives an absorbing account of the 
manner in which the interest, sympathy, and self- ^^3^^ 
sacrifice of an ambitious immigrant family added of the 
infinitely to the significance of the school, helping ?*°^y "^ 
overcome material difficulties, making effective 
effort possible, and throwing about the school a glamor that 
made it a most attractive institution. 

To a certain extent (which is being constantly limited 
by the intervention of the State), the needs of the family 
have a great influence upon the matters of attendance and 



62 The School as a Social Institution 

actual length of the course. A great variety of conditions 
in the home, conditions not wholly economic, may work 
Home ■ together to produce irregularity of attendance and 
conditions consequently jeopardize the success of the school 
mine those ^^ ^^^ work. Where the economic needs are great 
of the and the interest in the school slight, the actual 

^'^ °° length of the course is modified, regardless of 

the program which the school offers. It is not wholly 
the fault of the school that the vast majority of children 
never finish the work of the eight years of the elementary 
grades ; for a great deal of the responsibility lies with the 
family, — not all, to be sure. To illustrate the manner in 
which the needs of the home affect attendance we need 
only refer to the school in the earlier days of our national 
history. It was only in winter when home demands for 
labor were comparatively slight that the older boys could 
attend school at all. The children of the pioneer family 
could ordinarily hope for only the most meager school career. 
Under present conditions, especially in the industrial centers, 
a similar fate befalls the children of the workers. The 
needs of the family are so great or the interest in education 
so slight that boys and girls begin to seek profitable employ- 
ment even before they have' reached the minimum age which 
the state fixes for their leaving school. 

An investigation of " The relationship between per- 
sistence in school and home conditions " made by Charles 
Elmer Holley of the Ohio Wesleyan University led to the 
following conclusions : — 

"There is a high correlation between the economic, educational 
and social advantages of a home and the number of years of school- 
ing which its children receive. 

"Environmental influences more often cause a child to stop 
attending school than lack of ability to do the work. 

"Early elimination is correlated with, and largely due to, social 
and hereditary factors outside the school, over which the school 
has little or no control. 



Social Conditions of the School 63 

"High schools are largely attended by children from homes of 
culture and wealth, representatives of the 'better class.' 

"The number of books in a home is the best single objective 
index of the educational advantages open to the children. 

"Retardation is greatest, as a rule, among children of those 
parents who are poorly educated. 

"Truancy is found most frequently among children of poor and 
uneducated parents. 

"Size of family has no appreciable effect upon persistence in 
school. 

"Social pressure sometimes keeps children in school who cannot 
profit by the work given." {Fifteenth Yearbook of the National 
Society for the Study of Education, Part II, pages 109-111.) 

The bearing of home life upon the work of the school sug- 
gests the manner in which changing conditions of life in the 
family have resulted in adding to the burdens of 
the school. For ages the home was the great conditions 
educational institution ; but with the progress of of family 
the system of division of labor the family shifted added^ew 
to the school some of the work of training the burdens to 
young. As modern conditions have operated ^ ^*^ °° 
to modify family hfe and give it comparatively less 
and less of educational influence, the home has in 
turn shifted the work to the school. Although it once 
seemed sufficient for the school to give only intellectual 
training and religious instruction, it has now become its 
function to provide most of those kinds of training which 
the child once received rather informally in the various 
activities of family life. This transformation has come so 
suddenly that there are still a great many people who look 
with suspicion upon the attempts of the school to provide 
sense training, to give some knowledge of the world of 
nature, to offer opportunities for becoming acquainted with 
various kinds of work through what is called pre-vocational 
training, and to give sufficient mastery of some trade to set 
the boy or girl on the road to economic independence. 



X 



64 The School as a Social Institution 

That the school is becoming conscious of the influence 
and power of the family, or that the home is coming to feel 

an increasing sense of its important relation to the 
cons^^uT-^^ school is shown in recent years by the develop- 
ness of the ment of mothers' clubs, parents' associations, or 
oTthe ^^'^^ parents and teachers' associations, which attempt 
relationship to increase the effectiveness of both home and 
home and schooI by bringing about a better understanding 
school is between teachers and parents. The scope of this 
the^oiu- work has become national, as may be seen in the 
tion of existence in the United States of a National Con- 

of parents gress of Mothers, with which is affihated the Na- 
and tional Parent-Teacher Association. In England 

there is a Parents' National Educational Union. 
Where these organizations adhere to their proper function 
th€y seem to be of great value to the school ; but where 
the untrained although well-meaning are led by their zeal 
into attempts to adjust those educational conditions with 
which only an expert can deal successfully these associa- 
tions become a hindrance rather than a help. 

Relation of the Church to the School 

Of the total population of the United States, about forty 
million are on the membership records of the various churches. 
Church ^^ addition to this total there are several million 

members other adults (children not being considered in these 
hLTsevart figures) who are attendants or adherents in some 
of the more or less effective manner. With these figures 

pop ation; j^gfQpg Yiiiri, a visitor from Mars might infer that 
the influence of religion upon the schools is very great, — 
an inference which he would hardly find justified by the 
facts. 

Although the school among the people of Europe and 
America grew up as the handmaid of the church, and al- 
though teaching was long the pecuhar function of the clergy 



Social Conditions of the School 65 

or of those who were duly chosen by the Church, conditions 
have so changed that except in Roman Cathohc countries 
the pubUc school is no longer dominated by the 
Church and the number of parochial or denomi- schools 
national schools is a very small fraction of the have been 
total number of educational institutions. Educa- 
tion has been secularized to an extent which would have 
seemed unbelievable to the Christian of early modern times. 
In France, the State has come to a position where it 
assumes control of all kinds of schools ; and for many 
years there has been no religious instruction in the secular 
institutions. In the various German countries, while the 
Church still has an appreciable influence, the civil authority 
is supreme. Even in conservative England, where for 
centuries the idea of education as a state function has been 
manfully resisted, the government has gradually gained 
control of the schools. In the United States, progress in 
secularization has been so great that there is now hardly 
the slightest thought of direct effort by any denomination 
to determine the character of the public schools, and little 
effort on the part of any religious body to secure aid from the 
State. 

Even the reading of the Bible in the schools has ceased 
altogether, or has become a mere form, — instruction, ex- 
planation, and even comment being generally for- 
bidden in this country. What a change from reading of 
those days when the Bible was the principal ob- ^^^ ^^^^f 

c 1 • -ikT • • 1-1 m schools 

ject of study ! Now all that remains is hke a has become 

fossil whose presence in a rock tells the story ofsUght 

importance 

of some ancient form of Ufe. Two principal 
causes may be discovered in the history of this change. 
The first is sectarianism, through the force of which 
the disagreements among the different sects have united 
to eliminate everything that might in any way give 
offense to Catholic, Protestant, Jew, Free Thinker, or 



66 The School as a Social Institution 

Atheist. This means that while legally the reading of the 
Bible is in no state forbidden, the use of that literature for 
purposes of religious or even moral instruction is a thing of 
the past in the pubHc school, — such reading being merely 
a formal or perfunctory part of opening or closing exercises. 
The second cause which has operated to bring about the 
elimination of the Bible as a subject of study is the develop- 
ment and enrichment of the curriculum. When books were 
few, when the number of studies in the school was limited 
to the barest rudiments of the literary phase of education, 
it was not strange that the religious interest operated to 
magnify the importance of the Bible as the foundation of 
all learning. But the crowded curriculum of the present, 
reflecting the myriad secular interests of everyday hfe, offers 
little opportunity for the introduction of religious training 
even where there is no pronounced objection to it. 

There are, however, countries in which religion has as 
definite a place in the curriculum as arithmetic. In Ger- 
in some many, for example, religion has a time allowance 
countries, of two, three, or four hours a week in both ele- 
reUrion'^is a "lentary and secondary schools, for boys and girls 
definite alike. In the elementary school this is more time 
p^Uc**^* than is given to geography, drawing, or history, 
school while in the Gymnasium it is more than is given 

cumcuium ^^ history, geography, natural science, singing, or 
drawing. In Denmark, Norway, and Sweden also the 
secular interests have as yet failed to crowd religion from 
the curriculum. But even in these countries there is said 
to be an amount of formahsm in rehgious instruction which 
tends to defeat its fundamental purpose. 

Even though in the United States the churches as or- 
ganizations have generally ceased to attempt to exert any 
direct influence upon the administration of the public school, 
there still remains a sort of obscure and indirect effort to 
exercise some control. In small towns where denomina- 



Social Conditions of the School 67 

tional rivalry is keen there is likely to be more or less desire 
on the part of each sect to have representation on the board 
of school trustees. The same spirit is often ob- 
scurely present in the selection of teachers. Why ^jjg iq^^j 
this is or what good it does is a rather puzzling churches 

6X6I*t flu 

matter ; for it has no bearing whatever upon reli- uifluence 
gious instruction in the school. Perhaps it is due upon 
rather to a desire to magnify the denomination, — 
having a member of the church on the board of educa- 
tion or securing a teacher who will affiliate with a particular 
sect seeming to add a certain amount of desirable prestige 
and strength. 

As a great social force, the Sunday School is not to be 
overlooked, since it is the institution through which many 
churches try to supply the lack of attention to church 
religion which is characteristic of the public school, schools 
At the present time the number of children en- Sunday 
rolled in the Sunday Schools of the world is, ac- Schools) 
cording to statistics prepared for the World's important 
Sunday School Convention (Zurich, Switzerland, ^^^^ ^^'^^^ 
1913), more than thirty million, — this figure including 
only evangelical Protestant denominations. According to 
Kennedy's Official Catholic Directory, there are in the United 
States 10,875 CathoUc Sunday Schools, attended by nearly 
three million children. 

There is an6ther type of institution, in which some of the 
churches add to religious training instruction in the various 
subjects which are taught in the pubUc schools. This type 
is generally called the parochial school. To this are added 
academies, colleges, universities, and professional schools 
under denominational control. Few churches now attempt 
to maintain systems of elementary schools for the children 
of their members, that work being left to the State ; but the 
Lutherans and the Roman Catholics may be mentioned as 
examples of churches maintaining a comparatively large 



68 The School as a Social Institution 

number of such schools. The Official Catholic Directory 
states that there are 5448 parishes which have schools and 
that the attendance is 1,456,206. In the City of Greater 
New York alone there were in 1915 nearly two hundred 
CathoHc elementary schools with an attendance of about 
135,000. In 1910 the Evangelical Lutheran Church in 
America had 4862 parish schools with 3492 teachers and 
244,198 pupils. 

In a few places where parish schools are not maintained, 
or even where they are, the relationship between the public 
The public school and the church is such that pupils are ex- 
school and cused at certain times for the purpose of receiving 

the church ... • x ^- r r • 

sometimes religious instruction from some person who is 
cooperate m (j^][y authorized by the church to give it. This 
of reUgious arrangement is one of the possibilities of the plan 
instruction of gchool organization developed by Superintend- 
ent Wirt of Gary, Indiana. What effect such relationship 
will have upon the school is problematical. At the present 
time there are too few clearly discernible results for any 
satisfactory inference; but there are many who oppose 
the arrangement because of the fear that it will lead to the 
display of sectarian feelings and distinctions among the 
pupils of the elementary school. 

In addition to the problem of giving religious training to 
the children of its members, whether through the Sunday 
The School, the parochial school, or special classes, 

churches each church is confronted with the necessity of 
™h«Doi^^ giving special preparation to the prospective 
to train members of its clergy. Out of this need has 

eu: c ergy gj.Q^j^ ^jjg theological school, and in connection 
with it the college or university for the higher education 
of those who wish to receive such under religious auspices. 
Of the total number of colleges in the United States and 
Canada (approximately 750), two thirds are organically 
controlled by religious denominations. 



Social Conditions of the School 69 

Such control sometimes presents a vital problem in regard 
to academic freedom. That there has been a noticeable 
tendency, however, to free the college from denom- 
inational control is shown by the fact that several national 
of the institutions which were originally founded control of 

coUccfcs is 

for the sake of upbuilding certain churches are now closely 
really or practically non-sectarian. According connected 

with the 

to the Report of the Committee of the American question of 
Association of University Professors on Academic academic 
Freedom and Academic Tenure, while " we still • 
have colleges under denominational auspices, very few of them 
impose upon their trustees responsibility for the spread of 
specific doctrines. They are more and more coming to 
occupy, with respect to the freedom enjoyed by the members 
of their teaching bodies, the position of untrammeled institu- 
tions of learning, and are differentiated only by the natural 
influence of their respective historic antecedents and tradi- 
tions." (School and Society, Vol. Ill, page 110, Jan. 22, 1916.) 

The Influence of Philanthropic Societies upon Schools 

In spite of the fact that it is capable of being an instru- 
ment of social progress rather than a mere purveyor of 
tradition, the school has a tendency to get out of ^j^^ school 
touch with the immediate needs of the present, to often needs 
become self-sufficient and self-satisfied. The phil- heip\o 
anthropic society, generally a voluntary group of keep from 
earnest men and women interested in bringing °^^ ^''^^ 
certain desirable ideas or practices to wider social conscious- 
ness, or in carrying on some important social work which 
has been neglected or left to private endeavor, has been 
of very great importance in overcoming this tendency of 
the school to fossilize. In the history of education in this 
country such societies have often served as the intermediate 
step between private initiative and public support and 
control. In New York City even the pubhc school system 



70 The School as a Social Institution 

itself is very largely the result of the efforts of a philan- 
thropic organization, the Free School Society, which was 
founded in 1805. 

The influence of philanthropic societies upon the school 
is seen in three important forms: the development of new 
Phaan- types of schools, the introduction of new subjects 

thropic into the curriculum, and the addition of new kinds 

soci6ti6s 

often give oi activities to the ordinary work of the school. 

this help xhe growth of the kindergarten, the manual 
training school, vacation schools, and special institutions 
for the blind, for the mentally defective, for the crippled, 
and for the ansemic and tubercular may be traced largely 
to the initiative and influence of philanthropic societies. 
To the same influence the school is largely indebted for 
such subjects as music, drawing, temperance physiology, 
physical training, and household arts ; likewise for such ac- 
tivities as medical inspection, the school lunch, permanent 
registration of school children, the service of visiting teachers, 
and the work carried on in school gardens and playgrounds. 
The manner in which New York City was led to give 
special attention to mentally defective children affords an 
excellent concrete example of the working of the philanthropic 
society. 

"Twelve years ago the suggestion was made that a class should 
An illustra- ^^ formed in old Public School No. 1 , under the Brooklyn 
tion: the Bridge, for children who, for one reason or another, were 
treatment miisfits in the regular grades. The class was formed and 
dlfectiv?^ Miss Elizabeth FarreU was placed in charge. ... At 
children ^^^ present time there are 144 classes caring for about 

in New 2300 children, with a constant increase in the number 

York City of applicants from the grades. . . . 

"In March, 1912, the State Charities Aid Association, through 
its special committee on Provision for the Feeble Minded, pre- 
sented to the Committee on Elementary Schools of the Board of 
Education the following resolutions : 

"Resolved, That the Board of Education be urged: (1) To 
classify mentally all children of school age under its supervision or 



Social Conditions of the School 71 

brought to its attention by the Permanent Census Board or other 
agencies ; (2) To determine as far as possible, by scientific methods 
the degree of mental efficiency of those reported as sub-normal ; 
(3) To keep full and accurate records of aU sub-normal children, 
including schoolwork, home conditions, and hereditary data ; (4) To 
send to the proper state authorities the names of such children as 
are deemed custodial cases. . . . 

"These resolutions were adopted by the Elementary Schools 
Committee and sent to the Board of Superintendents, that they 
might determine what force would be needed to carry them into 
effect. After the resolutions had passed through their hands and 
through the Committee on By-Laws, the Board of Education was 
asked to ratify the following positions : Two assistant inspectors of 
ungraded classes ; two physicians on full time and regularly assigned 
to the Department of Ungraded Classes ; two social workers or 
visiting teachers. 

"The Public Education Association took up the matter and ob- 
tained the co-operation of various organizations, among them the 
City Club, the Association of Neighborhood Workers, the Women's 
Municipal League, the Association of CoUege Alumnae, and the 
Local School Boards, in an effort to induce the Board of Education 
to take favorable action. . . . 

"After much discussion, ending in a hearing before the Com- 
mittee on Elementary Schools attended by many physicians, most 
of whom were entirely in sympathy with the proposed increase in 
the department, the resolutions ratifying these positions, as well 
as additional clerical assistance, were passed in October, 1912. 
. . ." (Final Report of the Committee on School Inquiry, New York 
City, Vol. I, page 361.) 

Notable examples of outside organizations which attempt 
to have a beneficent effect upon the schools are the PubUc 
Education Associations of Philadelphia and New 

The work 
York. The activities of the latter, as set forth in of public 

an official description of its work, concern legisla- education 

flSSOClfltlOIlS 

tion, the school budget, new types of schools, the 
course of study and new types of school activities, and in- 
formation and research. The Philadelphia association in a 
useful career of more than thirty years has aided in the 
accomphshment of the following : — 



72 The School as a Social Institution 

I. The institution of the department of superintendence, with 
the increase of force by which the eflBcieney of this department 
has been largely augmented and thoroughly organized. 

II. The introduction of sewing and cooking into the curricu- 
lum. 

III. The institution of the manual training school. 

IV. The reorganization of the schools under supervising princi- 
pals. 

V. The assumption by the Board of Education of the Kinder- 
garten schools. 

VI. The establishment of a chair of pedagogy in the University 
of Pennsylvania. 

VII. The separation of the girls' high and normal schools and the 
material improvement of the course in the former. 

VIII. The passage of the compulsory school law. 

IX. Medical inspection introduced by the Department of Health 
and Charities. 

X. Establishment of school gardens by the Board of Educa- 
tion. 

XI. Reorganization of high schools. 

XII. Proposition for state high-school inspector. 

XIII. Promotion of child labor and compulsory education laws 
and their enforcement. 

XIV. Co-operation with educational commission in reorganizing 
entire school system, resulting in the new school code. 

(From A Primer of Public School Progress, issued by the PubUe 
Education Association of New York, 1914. Pages 36, 37.) 

The chief dangers in the work of philanthropic organiza- 
tions which interest themselves in the school are those of 
Value of the ^-rousing antagonism and resentment among 
phiian- teachers and members of boards of education 

org^za- ^^^ ^^ ^^^ much interference by laymen in school 
tion to the affairs. But it is to the interest of the school to 
^*^ °° encourage such outside organizations in their 

zealous efforts to improve educational conditions, even to 
the extent of swallowing professional pride and prejudice 
occasionally; for no small part of the effectiveness of any 



Social Conditions of the School 73 

school system lies in its responsiveness to changing social 
conditions and demands, — reflections of which are likely to 
be seen in the mirror of the philanthropic society. 

Influence of Business and Industrial Organizations 

There was a time when the school was a cloistered insti- 
tution, when it concerned itself more with the things of 
the world-to-come than with affairs of this life ; The 
but now conditions are so changed that the economic 
affairs of this world, especially the economic, been grow- 
are not only clamoring for recognition but re- ^^^ ^°^ 

... J xj. X- • X c importance 

ceivmg mcreased attention even in types of in the 
schools where their presence would once have schools 
seemed sacrilege. This change may be viewed in another 
way: a transition from the former control by the priestly 
class, through state control, to that by Business. 

. . There is 

Where it was once the function of the school to danger that 
serve as the handmaid of the Church, it now seems Business 

. , 1 • 1 1 1 niay assume 

to be an increasingly accepted idea that the the place 
great obligation of the school is to cater to the once held 
demands of Industry, to set economic usefulness church, 
and independence as the chief aim of every now held 
pupil. Culture seems in danger of sharing with 
religion the woe "of losing its birthright through the in- 
fluence of this modern Jflcab,' Business. It is not meant 
that economic needs should receive no attention in the 
school ; for of all the immediately pressing things in this 
life they touch us most closely. The school, however, can- 
not afford to permit its work to become solely materialis- 
tic in its endeavor to adjust itself to the demands of the 
modern industrial world ; nor can it afford to try to remain 
in that atmosphere of intellectual exclusiveness which was 
its chief characteristic when the disciplinary conception of 
life and education reigned as undisputed arbiter of school 
affairs. 



74 The School as a Social Institution 

While Business has been growing in scholastic influence 
it has been adding respectability to itself. We have not only 
Business business colleges, commercial schools, and com- 
hasnow mercial departments or courses in high schools, 
sclwiTstic ^^^ ^^^° schools of business in universities, the 
respect- last possibiHty in the way of academic respecta- 
^ bility. With this evidence of increasing esteem. 

Business has become more confident of itself and has actually 
set itself up as the chief critic and advisor of the school. 
A great deal of the criticism that has been made against 
education in recent years is based upon the demands of 
Business alone. The school is not regarded as an educational 
institution, but as a place where children may be taught 
enough reading, writing, spelling, and arithmetic to make 
their services fairly satisfactory to an employer. Such 
preparation is of very great importance ; but until we can 
judge our schools by standards which are broader there is 
little hope of real educational progress. However, in a 
work in which the results are as hard to measure as they are 
in teaching, the demand for something which attains a 
definite standard cannot but be helpful, if it is not carried 
to the extreme of obscuring remote and intangible, but 
important, results. 

In the administration of schools through boards of edu- 
cation, the business man now takes his place with the doctor, 
lawyer, social worker, and politician, almost to 
«»ot Jf!L' the exclusion of the clergyman who once led all 

ness man °-^ 

has a place the rest in importance. The presence of the busi- 
tance^ki^' ^^^^ msui as a representative of the variously 
school organized economic forces of the community is of 

tion"'"^*'*' S^^eat value in those matters which have to do with 
financial administration. His help has tended 
toward greater effectiveness in the use of the school plant, 
better system, and probably greater care. His helpfulness 
has been so great that we can afford to forgive him for those 



Social Conditions of the School 75 

occasions when he has made himself ridiculous by meddling 
in technical educational problems, a field in which his 
ignorance is equalled only by his assurance and his good 
intentions. 

Among private schools the man of business, whether 
banker, merchant, or king of this or that, has been of great 
aid from the material point of view ; for it is he who has 
furnished many of the millions of dollars which have made 
a large number of these schools possible. To his credit it 
must be said that he has not often made a direct attempt to 
use this relationship as a force to influence the character of 
instruction. What the indirect influence has been cannot 
be ascertained ; although there is some suspicion that 
academic freedom in higher institutions has suffered because 
of the insidious influence of large gifts. When a teacher 
loses his position under circumstances which lead to a belief 
that his attitude toward economic problems is the real cause 
of his elimination, there are generally other factors which 
confuse the issue to such an extent that no absolutely cer- 
tain conclusion can be reached. The integrity of our edu- 
cational institutions depends upon the complete destruction 
of any ground for suspecting that the color of learning is 
tinged by the gold which is used for their maintenance. 

In our discussion of economic influences we have thus 
far had in mind only the business man, the employer, the 
capitalist. Until very recently such a treat- 
ment would have been adequate ; for the workers well as 
have been practically voiceless in determining the Capital, is 

t3,kiiicr fl, 

character of the school. But to-day the whole serious 
matter of vocational education is one in which |°terest 
labor organizations are vitally interested. To 
this most immediate interest must be added compulsory 
attendance, the general character of the elementary educa- 
tion, and even the work of secondary and higher institu- 
tions. 



76 The School as a Social Institution 

In the solution of the present problem of industrial edu- 
cation a purely theoretical and philosophical treatment is 
impossible because of the conflicting interests 
The con- Qf Capital and Labor. It is to the financial 
between advantage of the employer to have a large num- 
Labor ^gj. of workers properly trained to carry on the 

Capital various kinds of activities which are necessary in 

has a deep j^^g particular kind of industry. Youth and sex 
significance make no great difference if the workers can really 
do what is required of them, — with this excep- 
tion, the cost for labor will be less if women and children re- 
place men. Hence it is to the advantage of large business 
concerns to have a type of industrial education which will 
supply the labor market with a large number of young 
people who are adequately trained to take up the various 
occupations in the industrial world, or who, with their 
preceding training, can easily be prepared for productive 
service. 

On the other hand, it is to the detriment of the workers to 
have a labor market which is too well supplied with properly 
equipped candidates for employment. The man with a 
family cannot compete on even terms with the unmarried ; 
nor, as a rule, can the man compete with the woman in 
those fields where both work with the same amount of 
effectiveness. The boy, the girl, the unmarried man, and 
the woman can afford to work for lower wages than the 
man with wife and children. Hence labor organizations are 
firmly opposed to any type of industrial education in the 
schools which will turn into the fields of industry that 
number and type of workers which will inevitably cause 
wages to fall. 

It may be possible for the school to go ahead and solve 
the whole problem of industrial education, as far as it is 
a school matter, upon broad sociological and psychological 
grounds, considering the needs of society as a whole, 



Social Conditions of the School 77 

regardless of class and seeking the welfare of the developing 
child as a human being, with only subordinate attention 
to the industrial phases of life ; but it does not The school 
seem at all likely that the school can escape the ™"^* ^?^^® 
force of the two conflicting influences that have problems in 
been mentioned. The hope of our country, how- ^"*^^ * ^^y 
ever, lies in the ability of the school system to society in 
rise above the level of any class and deal with general 
industrial problems upon a plane of social ideals broader than 
any group or class. 

The Relation of the Civil Government to the School 

Political government is the most vastly organized and 
perhaps the most powerful kind of institution which society 
has for expressing and carrying out its will. Its 
authority is so far-reaching and its power so ^^ fhe'ci^ 
great that we sometimes fall into the error of government 
supposing that it is the whole of society. Hence burundted 
we depend upon it to accomplish results beyond 
its power"^. Government can exert a control practically 
absolute over the bodies and material possessions of men ; 
but its control cannot be exercised to the same extent over 
the intellectual, the moral, the religious. Not even the 
most absolute form of monarchy has been able to prevent 
the growth of the spirit of democracy; nor has the most 
hberal democracy been able to prevent the abuses of certain 
forms of autocracy within itself. 

It follows then that the chief function of the civil govern- 
ment with respect to the school is to exert such external 
control as will tend most to realize the public 

Its CQUCft~ 

will in those kinds of education which fall within tionaifimc- 
the scope of the school. This control may be tipnis 
direct or indirect, centralized or localized. 

Indirect Governmental Control of the School. When a 
state wishes to secure a certain kind of educational result 



78 The School as a Social Institution 

but has not risen to the consciousness of the school as 
the most effective means of securing it, a premium may 
Control may be placed upon this result in such a way as to 
be indirect, cause the rise of certain types of schools with 
courses of study as rigidly fixed as would be the case if more 
direct measures were taken. In China, for example, the exam- 
ination system, based upon a very definite subject matter 
and leading to certain very desirable rewards, controlled 
the school system in a powerful and effective manner. In 
England, when the general social temper did not give sup- 
port to the idea that education is a state function, the 
government was nevertheless able to modify the content of 
the school by a system of paying for results in the teaching 
of certain desirable subjects. This method is very useful 
in the introduction of new practices into the school, making 
an easy transition from purely voluntary effort to definite 
legal requirement. Even in a country in which the idea of 
state control is as firmly established as it is in the United 
States, we find it in frequent use. The national govern- 
ment wishes to encourage agricultural education ; but in- 
stead of requiring each state to maintain an agricultural 
college it gives a certain sum of money annually for the 
maintenance of such institutions, to be paid only upon the 
fulfillment of certain conditions. A state wishes to secure 
better training for teachers in the elementary schools. It 
may establish normal schools and require graduation from 
such as a prerequisite to teach ; but as a step toward this 
higher requirement, it may contribute a sum of money to 
each high school that maintains a teachers' training class in 
which certain requirements are met. While no school may be 
compelled to take advantage of the opportunity offered, the 
result is quite sure to be the desired increase in the number 
of schools giving the training prescribed. 

Direct Governmental Control. As the indirect method of 
control is somewhat clumsy and not always effective, it tends 



Social Conditions of the School 79 

to give place to the direct. Kinds of schools, subjects of 
study, and various details of school administration are then 
made compulsory by legal enactment, or some- 
times by constitutional provision. The machinery 
necessary to carry out the provisions of the law is ci-eated, — 
state boards, some kind of county or parish organization, and 
city, town, or district boards. These various groups are made 
responsible for the administration of such matters as licensing 
and employing teachers, determining the course of study 
(often within the limits of definite legislation), building, 
equipping, and maintaining schoolhouses, administering 
school funds, and enforcing compulsory laws. This ad- 
ministrative machinery is so familiar that no description 
is necessary. 

It should be understood, however, that all this control is 
very largely external, mechanical, and material. Such 
important matters as the spirit of the school, the ideals of 
education, and the methods of instruction are almost wholly 
beyond its reach. Legislative enactment can hardly create 
ideals of social service, the spirit of loyalty to school and 
State, or indeed any of those personal elements which make 
or mar the real work of education ; although it is true that 
through the process of selecting teachers these intangible 
elements may be secured to a certain extent. By placing 
emphasis upon the intellectual qualifications of the pro- 
spective teacher, the State can indirectly develop that type 
of education ; or by emphasizing religious orthodoxy, it 
can secure at least formal adherence to the doctrines of an 
established church ; but up to the present time no scheme has 
been devised which has been able to secure genuine intel- 
lectuality or the fervent religious spirit through the appli- 
cation of administrative machinery. 

The Problem of Central or Local Control.^ The very 

1 The problem of central or local control as related to organization is dis- 
cussed in Chapter X. 



80 The School as a vSocial Institution 

early history of education in this country shows the im- 
mediate application of the principle of centralized 
schooi'^^ control to the extent of setting certain standards 
administra- by general legislation, as in the Massachusetts 

tho^l l^w^ of 1^^2 ^^^ 1^4'^ ' b^* *^® ^o^^s^ of ^^olu- 
tendency tion for almost two centuries was toward local 
conteol ^°''^ control, the result being the " district system " in 
its worst form. While we have developed state sys- 
tems of centralization and various forms of balance between 
the central and the local, we have not created a national system. 

Under the district system school affairs are directed by 
the citizens assembled in annual meeting and by the trustees 
Each type or committee-men whom they elect, generally for 
(centrai°or ^ short term ; while under the state system there 
local) has is limitation of local control through the laws of 
notewthy ^^^ Commonwealth, with administration gener- 
features ally over large units and in the hands of boards 
whose members are very often appointed for long terms. 
The latter system tends increasingly to the elimination of 
control by laymen except in the most general functions, 
technical matters being left to experts who are employed 
in increasing numbers. The centralized form of admin- 
istration brings a high degree of uniformity in such matters 
as textbooks, licensing of teachers, the course of study, the 
kinds of schools, and supervision or inspection; while the 
localized form makes possible an endless variety in such 
matters, supposedly in such a manner as to suit local needs. 

The Present Tendency. As our political development 
within recent years has been largely toward nationalism, 
the evolution of school administration has been 
tende^cyls* toward centralization. The extreme of local 
toward management, as exemplified by the district sys- 

tion"^ ^^' *^^' made itself absurd by its exceedingly small 
schools, its poorly paid teachers, its ramshackle 
buildings, its short school year, and its meager curriculum. 



Social Conditions of the School 81 

Consequently there has come a movement for the consoH- 
dation of schools, a short step toward centralization. The 
estabhshment of town and county high schools is evidence 
of the same tendency. Something of the same influence is 
seen in the growth of state (or county) uniformity of text- 
books, an idea now adopted in about half the states of the 
Union. The growth of state legislation in regard to schools 
is further evidence of an increasing belief in central rather 
than local control ; although such legislation does not mean 
absolute elimination of local bodies for the purposes of school 
administration. As has been suggested in another paragraph 
the result is rather a compromise between the two extremes, 
— autocracy on the one hand, extreme democracy on the 
other. 

The Influence of Tradition and Custom 

" By custom is meant the transmission of a way of doing; 
by tradition is meant the transmission of a way of thinking 
or believing." (Ross, Social Psychology, page 196.) Meaning of 
Such transmission does not depend very largely tradition 
upon a rational attitude toward the world. In ^ custom 
fact, it is almost true that the effectiveness of custom and 
tradition varies inversely with the intelligence of a people. 
Among primitive and barbarous peoples the force of custom 
is greater than it is among the highly civilized. 

As the school is not only an instrument for social progress 
but also an organization for the transmission of the culture 
of the past, that is of ways of thinking and doing, 
it has strongly felt the force of tradition and has is subject 
at times seemed the stronghold of the reac- *° t^®"" 
tionary. This statement is especially true of 
the elementary school, which has generally been the last 
institution to feel the effects of new and progressive ideas. 

The way in which tradition and custom bind the school 
is seen in such matters as the aim of education, the idea of 



82 The School as a Social Institution 

education for a class, the doctrine of formal discipline, 
the prominence of the classics, and the organization of 
the system upon a basis of eight, four, and four 
years to elementary, secondary, and college educa- 
tion respectively. The chief aim of the school has been to 
give a mastery of those symbols by means of which learning 
is made accessible and to train the mind of the pupil by 
means of a study of material chiefly intellectual or religious. 
Now when changed social conditions have laid upon the 
school the burden of other kinds of training, physical or 
industrial, for example, the force of tradition is one of the 
greatest obstacles to the realization of the newer ideals. 
Similarly the idea of education as a class privilege has per- 
sisted in spite of the growth of democracy. Even to-day in 
democratic America there is a noticeable tendency to re- 
strict the privileges of education (except that which is given 
in the elementary school) to those classes who can bear 
the burden of expense and the loss of time from productive 
labor. As for formal discipline, the doctrine of training the 
mind with little attention to the value of the material used 
in the process, it may be said that the revelations of modern 
psychology have as yet made only slight impressions upon 
that strongly intrenched tradition. In the persistence of 
the classics we find one of the very best examples of the force 
of custom. They were introduced into the school at the 
beginning of modern times in order to meet a strongly felt 
need, — the need of a material that would serve to culti- 
vate learning and virtue ; but with the passing of centuries, 
with the changing demands of life, with the growth of the 
vernacular literatures and the sciences, the classics failed 
to serve their purpose to the best advantage. Yet in the 
schools throughout Europe and America, boys continued to 
spend years of severest drudgery upon languages which were 
of little practical use, whatever may be said of the age-endur- 
ing value of the literature itself. As a final illustration we 



Social Conditions of the School 83 

may take the traditional organization of the American 

schools. Why the elementary school should have a course 

of eight years, the high school one of four, and the college 

likewise one of four, no one seems able to say, whether his 

search for a reason be based upon history, psychology, 

economics, or sociology. Although this is a custom not 

deeply rooted in the past, it will be very much worth while 

to study the success which newer plans of organization have 

in their attempts to substitute a different arrangement. 

Custom and tradition are to society what habit is to the 

individual, an aid toward economy and efficiency when used 

within rational limits, a barrier to progress when 

1 • 1 c 1 1 /• TTTi Custom and 

substituted tor the gmdance of reason. When tradition are 

current educational problems are solved in some ^°"^ 

habits 

satisfactory manner and the attention of teachers which must 
and administrators is turned to new matters, frequently 

be sub" 

those solutions which have grown out of present jected to 
struggles will be the tradition of the future ; but *^® scrutiny 

,1 . ... of reason 

as they become antiquated they must in their 

turn be subjected to new scrutiny and compelled to prove 

their value in different times and changed conditions. And 

whenever such new testing is made, custom and tradition 

should neither be condemned because they represent the 

old nor be approved because they have endured through the 

years. 

The Influence of Public Opinion 

In' a democracy, public opinion is a force the importance 
of which can hardly be overestimated. The statesman 
and the politician try to create it, discover it, pu^uj. 
follow it ; the reformer and the philanthropist opinion is a 
look to it for support in their endeavors ; and ^though 
even the man of business and the captain of in- intangible 
dustry are not wholly forgetful of its value. Its *°"® 
scope is varied and may range all the way from the small 



84 The School as a Social Institution 

village society to the nation ; it may even be international, 
although it is likely to be restricted by geographical and 
political boundaries. While it is a force which seems in- 
tangible, hard to define, and indeed, somewhat illusory, its 
reality is so impressive that even monopolists publish in the 
newspapers full-page explanations ' of matters of concern 
to them and to the public. 

Under the ultra-democratic regime of the district system, 
the school is likely to be very susceptible to the varying 
waves of public opinion for the reason that there 
in school are meetings at stated intervals, thus making 
administra- [^ possible for public opinion to be formu- 
lated definitely and carried out through properly 
authorized governmental channels. But under the cen- 
tralized system, with its experts and its appointive boards, 
the control of the school is less likely to be immediately af- 
fected by this force. Their tenure being somewhat secure, 
the experts generally, though not always, feel at liberty to 
initiate and pursue policies which meet their own approval 
even though public opinion does not always concur. 

Such a situation raises the question : Should the schools 
be what the people desire or what specially trained men 
PubUc believe to be best? In actual practice the result 

opinion and has to be a compromise or a process of evolu- 
adviceare ^^on. When Horace Mann was laboring for the 
sometimes improvement of the schools of Massachusetts, 
in conflict j^^ found it impossible to carry out his reforms 
immediately and directly. It was only as he and his suc- 
cessors were able to mold public opinion and create a 
general demand for better educational conditions that 
progress was made. 

Even where there is a strongly intrenched administrative 
system the advocates and the opponents of various edu- 
cational schemes do not overlook the value of public opinion. 
The school situation in New York City at the present time 



Social Conditions of the School 85 

is an example of the effort to accomplish indirectly through 
public opinion what cannot be brought about through legal 
channels : that is, the modification of the plans . 

A d vo c&t 6 s 

of the Board of Estimate and Apportionment of conffict- 

and of the Board of Education in regard to ing ideas 

important changes in the school system. The to create 

Board of Estimate and Apportionment which "*<* y^e 

has control of the purse strings wishes (possibly opinion to 

for reasons of economy) to introduce the plan gain their 

. . . ends 

of housing two schools in a single building. The 

opponents of the idea, having no legal means of preventing 
the Board of Education from trying the scheme on a large 
scale or introducing it throughout the entire system, have 
sought to use public opinion to combat the proposed changes. 
Innumerable public meetings have been held, newspapers 
have been flooded with discussions, and even the pulpit 
has become a forum. The advocates of the " duplicate 
school " idea have been just as active and have used similar 
means. Whatever the results may be, it is evident that 
even where a plan is not to be submitted to a vote of the 
electorate for a definite decision, public opinion is regarded 
as a powerful means of influencing the administration of the 
school. 

As another illustration of the relation of public opinion to 
the school we may cite the case of the state university. 
" It being one chief project " of those who op- 
pose higher education by the State to create university 
public opinion unfavorable to such institutions illustrates 

til 6 Wfl.!""" 

as provide it, these opponents often attempt to fare of 
accomplish their endeavors 'by poisoning the conflicting 
public mind through the introduction of the idea 
that the universities maintained by the states are " godless." 
Where public opinion is largely influenced by this belief, 
the state university suffers in two very direct ways : first, 
by the loss of actual or prospective students ; second, by 



86 The School as a Social Institution 

the failure to receive proper financial support from the 

legislature. So true is this that the state university is often 

confronted with the problem of using means of its own to 

create a favorable public opinion. 

In the East, where private schools of all kinds are more 

numerous than in the West, the gradual molding of the 

public mind to a condition favorable to schools 

In the East maintained by the State has been a very neces- 
it has been . . . 

necessary to sary work. Where tradition and current opinion 

create jg^n to the view that private schools are better 

opinion and more desirable than public schools, the 

favorable latter are handicapped in their struggle for im- 
schools provement by the very belief that they are 

necessarily inferior. There is too often a sort 
of satisfaction with anything that " will do " in buildings, 
equipment, and even teaching force, instead of an insistent 
demand for everything of the best. Sometimes influential 
citizens who do most to direct public opinion have only a 
remote sociological or patriotic interest in the public schools, 
as their own children are not immediately concerned. The 
same condition will be discussed again in the following sec- 
tion. 

The Influence of Social Classes 

Running through the population there are innumerable 

lines which divide people into classes with more or less 

definiteness. Where there is a caste system, as 

Clfl-SS lines 

are found in India, the class distinctions are very marked ; 
in aU kinds ]j^^ where the form of political organization is 
democratic, as in the United States, the classes 
generally shade into one another by imperceptible degrees. 
However, we speak of the laboring class, the rich, the middle 
class, the foreign element ; although in each of these cases 
the grouping is altogether of an unorganized kind. There 
is here nothing of the definiteness that is found in what we 



Social Conditions of the School 87 

call institutions ; but there are common interests, group 
resemblances, and sometimes unanimity of purpose. If 
there were much less shifting about in society, if possibilities 
of communication were decreased, and if the degree of en- 
lightenment were lessened, it might be possible for caste 
to arise from some of the formless groups of the present. 

That social classes have had a great influence upon edu- 
cation and still have is a very obvious inference from his- 
tory. Under the feudal regime, each class had . 
its own type of education, if not its own schools, classes 
Among the Hindus under the caste system, have an 
schools were open only to the favored few ; while influence 
even in the Germany of to-day, the gulf between ^v°^ 
Volksschule and Gymnasium is principally a 
matter of social class. The system of schools in any country 
is likely to be a rather clear reflection of society in general, 
obscured here and there, of course, by the inevitable shadows 
of tradition. 

The influence of the wealthy class is seen best in the main- 
tenance of private schools, especially those in which the 
tuition fees are high and the clientele is some- Thein- 
what exclusive. As a rule the private college fluence of 
preparatory schools depend for their support cu^grfs s*Jn 
upon a special class of the population ; and where in private 
they are the result of the old tradition of private ^^^°°^^ 
schools (founded largely upon the class idea), they are the 
immediate outcome of a demand for a type of institution 
which will meet certain quite definite demands of the wealthy. 
Among these needs may be mentioned a greater amount 
of individual attention than can be given in the public 
school, special preparation for the college entrance exami- 
nations, and association with members of a desirable class, 
rather than with those of all sorts and conditions of the 
population. Such schools, selecting their pupils from those 
families which by reason of wealth are able to offer special 



88 The School as a Social Institution 

advantages, have an indirect influence upon those institu- 
tions which are estabhshed for the children of the masses. 
In one particular especially, they assist in maintaining the 
traditional type of education : not reflecting the needs of the 
population in general, they offer no resistance to domination 
by the college, a domination which has almost universally 
offered strong opposition to the changes demanded by the 
more democratic conditions in both school and society. 

In contrast with the direct influence of the wealthy class 
upon education is that of the laboring class. As a rule the 
workers of the world have been an almost in- 
have not articulate group, their needs having been ex- 
been pressed by farseeing statesmen and sociologists 
rather than by their own leaders. Hence, trade 
and industrial schools are more the result of the policy of 
the State to insure its own prosperity than the response to 
any definite demand of the workers. Indeed, the interest 
of the worker in the school has too often been due to the 
fact that he saw there the opportunity for his children to rise 
above the class in which he found himself. 

As labor has become organized, as the workers have be- 
come class-conscious, there has been an increasing interest 
but they are in schools. The attention which labor unions 
becoming so have been pajdng to vocational education has 
already been mentioned; but in addition to this activity 
there are noticeable efforts to participate in school affairs. 
Only recently a representative of organized labor requested 
the Mayor of New York City to secure the resignation of 
two members of the Board of Education who were said to 
represent interests inimical to labor. 

At the bottom of the social scale is a class, the existence 
of which was an important factor in the development of 
free schools in some of the states. It was because of the 
needs of the very poor and because of the fact that this class 
seemed to be a menace to society by affording a breeding 



Social Conditions of the School 89 

place for ignorance and crime that the philanthropists of the 

early nineteenth century took up their cause and organized 

those societies and schools which aided materially 

in the evolution of the modern free public school pauper class 

idea. The memorial presented to the legislature may have an 

of the State of New York asking that body to pass 

an act incorporating the " Free School Society " based the 

request for a charter upon the following grounds : — 

"Your memorialists have viewed with painful anxiety the 
multiplied evils which have accrued, and are daily accruing, to 
this city, from the neglected education of the children of the poor. 
They allude more particularly to that description of children who do 
not belong to, or are not provided for, by any religious society ; 
and who, therefore, do not partake of the advantages arising from 
the different Charity Schools established by the various religious 
societies of this city. The condition of this class is deplorable 
indeed ; reared up by parents, who, from a variety of concurring 
circumstances, are become either indifferent to the best interests of 
their offspring, or, through intemperate lives, are rendered unable 
to defray the expense of their instruction, these miserable and almost 
friendless objects are ushered upon the stage of life, inheriting those 
vices which idleness and the bad example of their parents naturally 
produce. The consequences of this neglect of education are 
ignorance and vice, and all those manifold evils resulting from every 
species of immorality, by which public hospitals and alms-houses are 
filled with objects of disease and poverty, and society burthened 
with taxes for their support. . . . The rich having ample means 
of educating their offspring, it must be apparent that the laboring 
poor, — a class of citizens so evidently useful, have a superior claim 
to public support. ..." (Palmer, The New York Public School, 
page 19.) 

As the needs of the ignorant and inarticulate poor were 
an indirect influence leading to the estabHshment of those 
institutions which were a phase of transition to 
universal free public education, the helpless and defectives 



wretched condition of various types of defective ^^^ <^®^"*" 

and delinquent children has served as a spur to the 

zeal of philanthropists and statesmen. Thus, even a social 



90 The School as a Social Institution 

class or group which has no means of making a direct de- 
mand upon society may be able to secure the remedy which 
its condition demands. 

What has been said concerning the growth of schools for 
the very poor suggests another fact which is related to the 
development of kinds or groups of schools : where 
differences great social differences exist, the mere fact of such 
may lead to unlikeness is certain to affect the school. Thus, 
schools for negro children may attend schools estabhshed 
the various for their race ; or the children of the rich may 
receive instruction in institutions which are open 
to them alone. Whether this condition is a serious problem 
or indeed whether it presents a problem at all, depends upon 
the extent to which it is desirable to make the school abso- 
lutely democratic and use it as a means of fostering de- 
mocracy. If the school is to be an instrument used by so- 
ciety for the purpose of removing class and racial obstacles 
to democracy, then here is an important problem. But if 
the school is to be merely the mirror of society as it is, the 
existence of class schools may be taken for granted and passed 
without comment. A further discussion of the place of the 
school in the process of modifying social conditions will be 
presented in the next chapter. In the present paragraph 
we are concerned only with the fact that social classes and 
social differences affect the school and that back of this 
condition there may be ideals and purposes which do not 
harmonize with things as they are. 

As a final example of the influence of social classes upon 
the school let us consider the foreign element. While the 
adult immigrant has hardly any direct contact with the 
school, except in those cases where special classes are organ- 
ized for teaching foreigners Enghsh or giving training in citi- 
zenship, his children generally enter into an immediate and 
continuing relationship with the school. Where immigrants 
settle in large numbers the nature of the school has to be 



Social Conditions of the School 91 

modified somewhat in order to meet their needs and capaci- 
ties. As a result of the difficulties of the English language 
a great deal of time and energy which would 
ordinarily be given to teaching other subjects has ence^or* 
to be devoted to the task of securing some effec- a large 
tiveness in the use of this new tongue. While e°em^t 
the course of study as outlined in a syllabus may often 
not be altered to meet the needs of these schools j^^^^_ ^ 
in which there are large numbers of children of cations of 

the scho 
program 



foreign parentage, there must be very liberal modi- ® ^'^ °° 



fications by the teachers as the material is pre- 
sented. The amount of work that is done may be decreased, 
the quality of instruction must be adapted to the peculiar 
workings of the minds of children who breathe a foreign 
atmosphere even in an American city, and the school has to 
become a means of assimilating a large part of the alien 
element. 

Influence of Social Communication 

Of all the means of human progress there is none that 
excels in value the wonderful system through which man is 
able by the use of symbols to communicate his Nature of 
ideas to his fellows. This system includes ges- communi- 
ture, facial expression, spoken language, writing, ^^ °° 
printing, painting, music, and even the motion picture. 
The chief channels through which communication flow are 
travel, commerce, newspapers, magazines, books, the tele- 
graph, the telephone, the postal service, and various group 
organizations. Through the permanence of certain forms 
of expression, such as writing and printing, a greater con- 
tinuity is given to human life. The school is thus enabled 
to serve as the institution of the race, rather than as that of 
a small group. By means of the rapidity with which com- 
munication is now possible, all parts of the world are bound 
together more closely. Telegraph, telephone, and the postal 



92 The School as a Social Institution 

service enable us to follow our interests in every corner of 
the earth if we will ; while these same means, with the as- 
sistance of the printing press, make it possible for new ideas 
as well as the inherited culture of the race to be brought 
within the reach of practically every individual. 

Where a nation is able to lead a life of isolation from the 
rest of the world its institutions are Ukely to remain in a 
static condition, which is but the reflection of the 
communi- general state of affairs within its borders. But 
cation when commerce, travel, or warfare breaks down 

static the walls of isolation, the incoming of new ideas is 

social almost certain to result in changes which modify 

the whole life of the people. A classical example 
of this is the revolution in Athenian life which character- 
ized the Age of Pericles. New teachers, new ideas, new 
customs, all working together, brought about such great 
changes that the conservatives, the admirers of the old 
order, saw their world crumble. A more recent example 
is that of Japan, a description of which is hardly neces- 
sary. 

How the content, methods, and ideals of the school may 
be modified as a result of communication with other countries 
is shown by the influence of Pestalozzianism in 
fluence of this country. Pestalozzi, working in a Httle 
coinmuni- Swiss community, would have remained forever 
the school Unknown had it not been for the traveler, the 
is illustrated writer, and the lecturer. But through a large 
spread of number of channels his influence reached our 
Pestaioz- schools. The results were an enrichment of the 
curriculum, an improvement in methods of 
teaching, a more human spirit in the schoolroom, an 
interest in the better preparation of teachers, and greater 
solicitude for the welfare of defectives and delinquents. 
Whatever might have been the amount of progress through 
purely native conditions and efforts, it is evident that much 



Social Conditions of the School 93 

of what we have gained was made possible through means 
which came from outside. 

Even the rural school, the last of institutions to feel the 
effects of changing social conditions, has been modified 
through the force of improved communication. 
The telephone, the rural mail service, the wider f^prove- ^ 
circulation of newspapers and magazines, and ment of 
the improvement of means of travel through the g^ooig 
introduction of the automobile and the building 
of good roads have broken down much of the isolation of 
country Kfe. Largely, though not solely, through this 
development, the rural school has become self-conscious. 
Hence it is becoming truly a rural school rather than a bad 
imitation of its town or city neighbor. The mere decrease 
of isolation, by making country hfe more attractive, assists 
in securing a better type of teacher ; while the widened view 
of the world which results from improved communication 
gives a clearer view of the importance of agriculture and a 
better understanding of the conditions and problems of school 
and community. 

The Influence of Social Ideals and Needs 

The nature of ideals is very effectively de- ideals re- 
scribed by Dr. Paul Carus in The Ethical fleet needs 
Problem in the following words : — 

"What are ideals? Ideals have a very humble origin ; they are 
not of celestial or transcendental parentage. Ideals are the 
children of our needs. If an inventor is engaged in inventing a 
machine for J&Uing some need in human life, he has an ideal, for 
an ideal is an idea to be realized. 

"Ideals do not come down to us from the skies, nor are they 
mere dreams, mere poetical visions of our prophets. Not at all! 
Man wants something, so he conceives the idea how good it would be 
if he had it. If a man is a mere dreamer he is pleased with his 
imagination and complains about the hard facts of reality. How- 
ever, if he is a thinker, that is, a dreamer, who in addition to his 



94 The School as a Social Institution 

imaginative faculty possesses self -discipline, will, and the ability to 
prune his imagination, and to criticize his dreams, he will study 
facts. And only by studying facts will he be able to realize his 
ideal. Those apparent ideals which for some reason are not adapt- 
able to facts are no ideals but dreams. . . . Ideals are born of 
want. . . ." 

The influence of ideals upon the school is the process by 
which the needs of social groups or of society in general are 
felt, discovered, and sometimes satisfied. As we have dis- 
cussed the influence of various institutions, social groups, 
and somewhat intangible social forces, we have had in 
mind most of the time the kind of influence and the manner 
in which it is exerted. Here we turn our attention to some 
of the ideas and feelings which have been concerned in these 
various relationships. 

Changing ideals have accompanied changing social con- 
ditions, and have had a great influence upon the develop- 
The in- ment of education. For centuries the ideal 

fluence of which dominated the schools of Europe and 
ideaisTs^ America was rehgious. That is to say, of all 
seen (i) appreciable human needs the greatest was to 
reiigfous S^^^ ^^ understanding of things divine. This 
conception ideal was clothed in an institution, the Church, 
° ^' the chief function of which was to see that the 

need was satisfied in the lives and hearts of humanity. 
Hence formal education centered in a book, the Bible, which 
was the great treasury of religious thought. The effective- 
ness of the religious ideal was greatly increased by the fact 
that it was concerned with things that are eternal, as con- 
trasted with earthly things which are transitory. Under 
the dominance of this conception the work of the school 
was of such a character that the intellectual was sub- 
ordinate, the physical neglected, and the commercial and 
industrial eliminated. 
. As the civic ideal began to develop in modern times it was 



Social Conditions of the School 95 

at first in no way antagonistic to the religious. But as 
sects multiplied and a single institutional source of re- 
ligious ideals and practices gave way to a multitude of such 
sources, the harmonious relationship between the civic 
and the religious was disturbed. This was not because there 
is any necessary conflict between civil duties and religious 
obligations, but because intolerance and the desire to con- 
trol often existed in those institutions which were supposedly 
solely rehgious. The outcome of this conflict of ideals has 
been of two kinds, as has been shown in the section of this 
chapter which relates to the influence of the Church upon 
the school. In some countries the government still per- 
mits religion to be taught in the schools, while in others such 
instruction is entirely ehminated from all schools which 
receive state support, although schools for religious instruc- 
tion are permitted as private or philanthropic institutions. 

In the United States the civic ideal has appeared in two 
forms, each of which has influenced the school greatly. The 
first conception of preparation for citizenship 
as an ideal of the school involved merely such (?)."*. *® 

CIVIC idc&l 

training as would give the prospective voter (which 
that amount of education which would enable fppears 
him to consider public affairs intelligently, phases); 
The ideal also included giving such elementary 
education as would enable the citizen to take his part in the 
free competitive struggle, thus relieving the State of the 
burden of caring for the helpless, the ignorant, and the pov- 
erty stricken. With the progress of the Industrial Revolution 
and the great growth of cooperative endeavor, the feeHng 
of a new need has become evident. It is not enough that 
the individual be sufficient unto himself ; he must have such 
ideals and receive such training as will make him cooperate 
effectively with his fellow citizens in all phases of life where 
individual effort is insufficient. This newer ideal is just 
beginning to affect the school. At present the means of 



96 The School as a Social Institution 

realizing it are rather vague and theoretical. It may be 
the work of a century to make it tangible and effective. 

Intermingled with the civic ideal is that of Democracy, 
often vague, intangible, and misunderstood, yet pregnant 
with human possibilities. More the expression 
the demo- of a vague longing of the human heart than 
craticor ^j^g definite formulation of a clearly conceived 
need, it has been and is of great influence upon 
the school. The civic ideal which leads to education as a 
means of satisfying the needs of the State is supplemented 
by the democratic ideal which holds education to be one of 
the inherent rights of the individual. The product of these 
two ideals is a school system which breaks through the lines 
of class and provides equal opportunities for all. The 
civic ideal alone might well bring forth a system based upon 
the various levels of society, as exemplified in German edu- 
cation; but the democratic spirit does not permit the 
natural democracy of childhood to be destroyed by the en- 
forced limiting of the opportunities of various groups. 

In the university this spirit of democracy is contending 
against the evils of too great centralization in administrative 
Our schools ^^^1^^. And here, strangely enough, the Ameri- 
do not yet can university looks to the German for an ex- 
exempUfy ample of democracy. The demand for efficiency 
the demo- and for definite responsibility has resulted in a 
cratic 1 e ; ^j^q q^ centralization in the American uni- 
versity which many believe to be too autocratic. There 
is a feeling that the professor is too often regarded 
as a " hired hand " who can be employed, or- 
,rJo^!°^' dered about, or discharged at the will of the 

ress IS ' ° 

evident in president or the board of trustees. Just what 
sSirand should be the relation between the teaching force 
and the administrative authorities, their two func- 
tions being materially different, is problematical ; but that the 
present situation is irksome to many professors is clearly 



Social Conditions of the School 97 

shown by the movement to curb unlimited power on the part 
of presidents and trustees by giving the teaching force — or 
at least teachers of professorial rank — a greater influence 
in the administrative affairs of the university. 

The same spirit is apparent in the ranks of elementary and 
high school teachers in the larger cities. There is continual 
demand that boards of education and superin- 

.,..,,., even in 

tendents cooperate more m admmistrative at- elementary 
fairs with the rank and file than has been cus- ^'^^ second- 
tomary. In New York City the Board of Edu- 
cation has actually created an unofficial body called the 
Teachers' Council (described in Chapter II), the function 
of which is to give the board such advice and suggestions 
regarding school matters as may seem wise and proper. 
The creation of such a council, representing the entire 
body of teachers with all their experience and their views of 
school conditions and needs, is at least an important step 
toward greater democracy in school administration. 



BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Alexander, Carter, Public Opinion and the Schools. School and 
Society, IV : 913-918. Dec. 16, 1916. 

Betts, George H., Social Principles of Education. Chapter V, 
Education and Institutional Modes of Expression. 

Blackmar, F. W., and Gillin, J. L., Outlines of Sociology. Part 
II, Chapter VIII, Theory and Function of the State ; Part III, 
SociaUzation and Social Control. 

Brown, Samuel W., The Secularization of American Educa- 
tion. 

Butler, N. M., The Meaning of Education. Chapter X, Religious 
Instruction and its Relation to Education. Chapter XVI, 
Some Fundamental Principles in American Education. 

Carus, Paul, The Ethical Problem. 

Cubberley, E. p.. Rural Life and Education. Chapters I-IV. 

Dewey, John, Democracy and Education. Chapter II, Education 
as a Social Function. 

Dewey, John, School and Society. 



98 The School as a Social Institution 

GiDDiNGS, F. H., Principles of Sociology. Book II, The Elements 

and Structure of Society. 
GoMPERS, Samuel, The American School and the Working Man. 

Journal of N.E.A., 1 : 175-183. 
HoLLEY, Charles Elmer, The Relationship between Persistence in 

School and Home Conditions. Fifteenth. Yearbook of the 

National Society for the Study of Education, Part II. 
Jessup, W. a., Social Factors affecting Special Supervision in the 

Public Schools of the United States. 
Johnston, C H., The Modern High School. Chapter XII, Home 

and School Association ; Chapter XIII, The School's Coopera- 
tive Agencies. 
Kandel, I. L., Political Theory and Education. Teachers College 

Record, May, 1916, pages 227-233. 
King, Irving, Social Aspects of Education. Chapter IV, The Social 

Relations of Home and School. 
Lindsay, S. M., The State and Education. Teachers College 

Record, September, 1916, pages 311-329. 
MacDowell, T. L., State versus Local Control of Elementary Edu- 
cation. U. S. Bureau of Education Bulletin, 1915, No. 22. 
McDoTJGALL, William, An Introduction to Social Psychology. 
Public Education Association of the City of New York. A 

Primer of Public School Progress. 
Ross, E. A., Social Control. Chapter X, Public Opinion ; Chapter 

XXVIII, Class Control. 
Smith, W. R., Introduction to Educational Sociology. Chapters 

IV-IX, Social Groups. 
Strayer, George D., The Teaching Process. Chapter II, Factors 

Conditioning the Teaching Process. 
Talbot, Winthrop, Adult Illiteracy. U. S. Bureau of Education 

Bulletin, 1916, No. 35. 



CHAPTER IV 
THE REACTION OF THE SCHOOL UPON SOCIETY 



School education is in our day a mighty engine of progress. 
The teacher has a wider outlook and a freer mind than the average 
parent, so that the school, provided it appropriates promptly the 
fruits of contemporary thought and research, is an emancipator. 
It delivers the young from ignorant parental prejudices, and coun- 
teracts oral tradition by injecting into the mind up-to-date knowl- 
edge. — E. A. Ross, Social Psychology, page 231. 



If society determines what the school shall be, the school 
none the less exerts its own influence in return and con- 
tributes its part to what the entire social body is to 
be or become. No institution within society, and '^^^ school is 
indeed in a limited sense, no individual, however a passive 
lowly, is without some determining force which instrument 
reacts upon the entire mass. Naturally those in- but an 

stitutions which have definitely directive, coer- *<=*^^® 

« , , directing 

cive, progressive, or reformatory purposes have force 

the larger influence because of such ideas; just 

as the individual who directs his thoughts and his efforts 

to definite ends exerts an influence which is greater than 

that of his purposeless neighbor. 

Of all institutions the Church and the school have most 

clearly the purpose of modifjdng society. The school takes 

the raw human material and attempts to mold it into such 

shapes as will best accord with the design in view. In this 

work it is not merely a machine which society can operate ; 

99 



100 The School as a Social Institution 

it is to a limited extent self-determining and self-directing. 
It is not meant here that the school can isolate itself and 
stand outside the boundaries of society ; although it is true 
that it may become non-social or even anti-social. The 
idea is that it may as school have its own immediate or 
ultimate aims, and among these may be the changing, 
developing, or even remaking of society. 

It is the purpose of this chapter to discuss the various 
ways in which the school within society, this wheel within 
a wheel, may react upon that which creates and maintains 
it. The treatment here will be rather general, leaving for 
a later place the detailed discussion of the social significance 
of such matters as school organization, curriculum, and 
methods of instruction. Here will be treated such school 
reactions upon society as the transmission of culture, the 
advancement of learning, the socializing of the individual, 
the breaking down of caste lines, the assimilation of immi- 
grants, and social reform. 

Tkansmission of Culture 

Through the lives and experiences of countless generations 
who have spent their little hour or two in " this battered 
caravanserai," there has been developed an in- 
uaUnherit- ^^i^® amount of material which is the inheritance 
ance of of the present and the future. In scope it ranges 

off"rs^an ai- ^^^^^ ^^^ most trivial detail of everyday life to the 
mostumit- most sublime conception of Nature and of God, 
oTmatTriaT* embracing the scientific, the poetic, the philo- 
sophic, and the religious as well as the random 
bits of individual experience which are almost too in- 
significant to be classified. It is an epitome of the long 
upward struggle of the race from savagery to civilization. 
In some of its most exalted eminences it is so far above the 
level of ordinary workaday experience that it may well be 
called divine. 



Reaction of School upon Society 101 

So vast in extent is the whole range of what is called cul- 
ture, that the first task of the school must be one of selection 
and arrangement. Out of the hmitless and con- 
stantly widening field of the sciences must be the school 

chosen that material which will, within the time selects and 
,. . c 1 1 i-c • 1 • !• • 1 1 • transmits 

unuts of school life, give the individual most satis- that which 

factorily some familiarity with what is best and seems most 

most valuable. Although the school was long 

occupied almost entirely with the teaching of those 

sciences which are linguistic, logical, and mathematical, 

the range of choice has now become so great that 

even the elementary school is embarrassed by the very 

extent of its riches. To the scientific treasure the world of 

literature adds the best and noblest outpourings of the 

human heart, a fund so rich and so extensive that no mortal 

can hope to appropriate it all. 

When to all this we add the aesthetic, the institutional, 

and the religious, as does President Butler in his discussion 

of The Meaning of Education, it is evident that the 

first reaction of the school upon society must be tion of 

through the work of selecting material, and that material 
, , . » , . , . implies a 

this process ot selection must result not only in correspond- 

determining the scope of school work but also in ing sifting of 
estabhshing a system of sifting which may cause 
the practical elimination of certain types of pupils from 
the school. It was in this way that the old Latin Gram- 
mar School sifted from the population the few who 
were able to profit by a kind of instruction which was 
predominantly linguistic and abstract. This school thus 
acted not only as a selector of material but also as a deter- 
miner of those who should receive the benefits of formal 
education. What was true of the Latin Grammar School 
is no less true of the elementary or high school of to-day. 
The nature of the material offered is one of the factors in 
the retardation and eUmination of pupils all the way from 



102 The School as a Social Institution 

the fifth or sixth grade through the entire system. The 

State may attempt to determine the length of the school 

career of its children, the minimum limits of their intellectual 

attainments, and the conditions necessary to their leaving 

school for the fields of productive labor; but if the school 

does not react properly through the selection of material 

and methods, mere attendance will be practically the only 

noticeable result of the whole process. 

While the nature of the school is in a large way determined 

by society, either progressiveness or too strict adherence to 

The school tradition may result in a condition in which the 

is thus school is not a reflection of society as it is, but 

* ^*i!I^J rather a force which tends to accelerate or retard 
ing factor in 

social the progress of the whole. That is to say, the 

progress gchool is both determined and determining in its 
relation to society in general. 

In surveying the effects of the various reactions of the 

school as an instrument for the transmission of culture, we 

find that there is here, instead of mere random 

The exist- 
ence of the effort such as is found in much of the life outside 

school the school, a definite organization, one of the chief 

posive or- functions of which is to see that the experience of 

ganization the past is given to the oncoming generations in 

some careful and systematic manner. This very 
definiteness of work has the further effect of placing empha- 
sis upon the best of what has been acquired. Some sense 
of values is made to govern the choice of materials; so 

that what has been seen to be best or what prom- 
of material ises to bring about the greatest good is chosen for 
from the the work of instruction and character-building, 
to produce The result of dealing with material which comes 
conserv- from the past is to make the school generally a 

conservative force. Theoretically there seems to 
be no good reason why the experience of past generations, 
especially as crystalUzed in literature, should not be used 



Reaction of School upon Society 103 

to enforce lessons of change and progress ; but in reality 
the opposite has been the usual result. Looking to the 
past for its materials, the school has not usually been 
able to direct its energies to doing more than attempt- 
ing to reaUze the best of that past. A final result of the 
activities of the school as a transmitter of culture is to 
be seen in the fact that other institutions have gradually 
been reheved of educational burdens. The family is freed 
from the work of elementary education, for which it was 
once responsible. At the present time, the 
breaking down of the apprentice system finds gnce^S^*" 
the school assuming the responsibihty for a type schools 
of education which has always been foreign to its ^^ *^at 
very spirit. What has generally been a bookish other in- 
place is now assuming the nature of a shop in ^^ relieved 
order that it may perform a work that present of some of 
industrial conditions seem to make it unprofitable of^tra^s-^'^ 
for the shop itself to do. The same kind of thing mitting the 
is true also of the professions. At one time each ^^ ° 
profession trained the young men who were to 
enter its ranks. The lawyer- to-be read law in the office 
of some member of the profession, and thus received the 
necessary preparation. The prospective physician entered 
the office of some practitioner and there received the 
training that fitted him to assume the responsibilities which 
were later laid upon him. The leaders in the technical and 
scientific phases of industry once received their training in 
the work itself. Now, however, the law school, the medical 
school, the engineering or technological institution perform 
the work of giving at least the prefiminary training. Last 
of all, the elementary school has begun to experiment with 
vocational and pre-vocational training, thus preparing to 
reUeve industry as the higher schools have already relieved 
the professions. 



104 The School as a Social Institution 

The Advancement of Learning 

While the school from its foundation has been an in- 
stitution which has continually assisted in transforming 
society through the transmission of culture, it has also be- 
come an instrument for aiding in social progress 
does more through the work of widening the bounds of 
than trans- knowledge. What was once a random and un- 
widens the certain process — learning being increased gen- 
bounds of erally by accident rather than by design — has 
now become a definitely planned and directed 
work. For ages the human race lived within the con- 
fines of a slowly evolved culture and not only made no 
conscious effort to widen the field of knowledge but es- 
tablished barriers to hinder those who wished to wander 
beyond the traditional. Now and then new discoveries 
were made, or rather were stumbled upon ; but there was 
no definite agency for the exploring of the unknown. 

One of the earliest modern visions of the possibility and 

necessity of a conscious and continuous effort to add to the 

sum of human knowledge is that of Francis Bacon, 

Bacon fore- — '' Salomon's House," as described in a Utopian 

sawthepos- fragment. The New Atlantis. Of this institution 

SlDllltieS of . . .11 1 c . r. 1 • • 1 

definitely it IS said that the end of our foundation is the 

planned knowledge of causes, and secret motions of things : 
research , . » 

and the enlarging of the bounds of human em- 
pire, to the effecting of all things possible." Here is then the 
idealized prototype of that vast modern machinery of 
investigation of which the university forms no mean part. 

The insight of Bacon into the possibilities of study and 
research is shown in the following description of "the riches 
of Salomon's House " : 

"For the several employments and offices of our fellows, we 
have twelve that sail into foreign countries under the names of 
other nations (for our own we conceal), who bring us the books and 



Reaction of School upon Society 105 

abstracts, and patterns of experiments of all other parts. These 
we call Merchants of Light. 

"We have three that collect the experiments which are in all 
books. These we call Depredators. 

"We have three that collect the experiments of all mechanical 
arts and also of liberal sciences, and also of practices which are 
not brought into arts. These we call Mystery-men. 

"We have three that try new experiments, such as themselves 
think good. These we call Pioneers or Miners. 

"We have three that draw the experiments of the former four 
into titles and tables, to give the better light for the drawing of 
observations and axioms out of them. These we call Compilers. 

"We have three that bend themselves, looking into the experi- 
ments of their fellows, and cast about how to draw out of them 
things of use and practice for man's life and knowledge, as well for 
works as for plain demonstration of causes, means of natural divina- 
tions, and the easy and clear discovery of the virtues and parts of 
bodies. These we call Dowry-men or Benefactors. 

"Then after divers meetings and consults of our whole number to 
consider the former labours and collections, we have three that take 
care out of them to direct new experiments, of a higher light more 
penetrating into Nature than the former. These we call Lamps. 

"We have three others that do execute the experiments so di- 
rected, and report them. These we call Inoculators. 

" Lastly we have three that raise the former discoveries by experi- 
ments into greater observations, axioms, and aphorisms. These 
we call Interpreters of Nature. 

"We have also, as you must think, novices and apprentices, that 
the succession of the former employed men do not fail ; besides a 
great number of servants and attendants, men and women. And 
this we do also : we have consultations, which of the inventions 
and experiences which we have discovered shall be published, and 
which not : and take all an oath of secrecy for the concealing of 
those which we think fit to keep secret : though some of those we 
do reveal sometimes to the State, and some not." {.The New At- 
lantis, World's Classics Edition, pages 273, 274.) 

This Baconian ideal of a special institution for research 
has long been realized in the universities of Europe ; and 
its importance is being more and more emphasized in this 
country. President Schurman of Cornell in his Annual 



106 The School as a Social Institution 

Report for the year 1909-1910 expressed the tendency in the 
following words : " The future of the American university 
jjjg is with the graduate school or department of 

Baconian research. These two — the scientist with his 
reafin ttie^ fruitful experiments and the scholar with his pro- 
modem ductive research — are the seers and accredited 
university leaders of mankind in this twentieth century. 
In their Ught we shall see light. Otherwise we shall 
walk in darkness. And it is such scientists and scholars 
who constitute the research department of the university. 
The graduate school is the supreme hope and crown of the 
university." (School and Society, Dec. 4, 1915, page 822.) 

The following sentences from the inaugural address of 
President Wilbur of Leland Stanford Junior University add 
further emphasis to the doctrine of university leadership in 
the advancement of learning. " To the universities, with 
their teachers, their research workers, must we look for 
the solution of many great social problems, and for the 
control of those unnecessary diseases that devour the very 
marrow of the race. To the universities must we turn for 
facts in order that we may face with open eyes the world 
as it is and strive to make it the world that it should be. 
The universities must lead in the fight against oppression, 
evil, ignorance, filth. We cannot be neutral in these strug- 
gles. We must be positive forces, making the university 
the recruiting ground for youth, arming them for the big 
tasks of the race." 

Here is seen clearly the idea that it is not merely the func- 
tion of the university to transmit undiminished the treasure 
which has been committed to it, not merely to make further 
progress in the acquisition of knowledge, but to be a definite 
and purposive force in the modification of society through 
a continual campaign against " oppression, evil, ignorance, 
filth." But the university is not alone in this warfare ; for 
every grade of school should be enlisted in the fight. Every 



Reaction of School upon Society 107 

type of school from the most elementary to the graduate 
department is engaged in a work of modifying society; 
although it is the university which has the honor of doing 
so by the work of adding to the cultural inheritance of the 
race. 

The advancement of learning does not necessarily imply 
the improvement of society in general. It is conceivable 
that a learned class should develop a great body ^, ^ 

. The demo- 

of knowledge and use it for selfish ends ; and m- cratic ideal 

deed in the early history of the race it seems that demands 
, . , -111 tiiat the 
learning was a mystery to be attained by a chosen advance- 
few, who, as a class, used this intellectual posses- f^®'^* °^ 

... , . . . learning 

sion as a means of maintaining their superiority shall have 
over the masses. In a democratic society, how- general 
ever, in which ideals of public service animate all 
types of schools, the conditions are so different that we 
naturally expect that whatever advancement is made in 
any field of human learning will be turned to the benefit 
of humanity in general. If a university maintains labora- 
tories in which work upon the various problems in rela- 
tion to cancer is prosecuted, it is the unanimous inference 
of all persons who think of the matter that whatever 
is discovered will be used not for the selfish advantage of 
that institution but for the good of humanity everywhere, 
to the remotest bounds of the earth. When we read that 
Cornell, Yale, Syracuse, or any other university is to main- 
tain a school of forestry, we immediately infer that what- 
ever is added to the sum of knowledge in that field through 
the work of professors and graduate students will become 
available to all who need it, that is, that society in general 
will profit by the progress of the various individuals and 
institutions devoted to research work. 

The scope of the work of investigation now carried 
on in the university and the manner in which it may be 
profitable to society may be seen in the brief summary of 



108 The School as a Social Institution 

Recent Important Research which President Butler makes in 
his Annual Report of 1915. It is said that " very slight in- 

quiry would serve to make it plain that at least 
the work of one half of the great departments into which the 
investiga- University is organized are already actively en- 
shown in gaged in the promotion of research and in guiding 
President ^^g activities of mature scholars." Among the 
Annual many activities mentioned are the following: 

Report Investigation of the " processes which have for 

their aim the building up in the United States 
of certain branches of chemical industry that have hitherto 
been almost completely monopolized in Germany " ; study 
of the problems involved in the '' improvement of the brake 
shoes used on railway cars," of the " chemical utilization 
of the Southern pine waste with a view of assisting the 
development of those industries that deal in forest products," 
of the " breaking down of the heavy petroleum molecules 
into lighter hydrocarbons." As a result of the study of this 
last problem " it has been found possible to increase largely 
the yield of gasoline from crude oil and also to establish the 
conditions of a process for converting a substantial portion 
of crude petroleum into some of the basic materials now used 
in the manufacture of dyes and explosives." The con- 
duction of electricity through gases, the process of ioniza- 
tion by which a gas is rendered conducting, the generation 
of short circuit waves, the reflection and absorption of such 
waves by systems of resonators or screens with the relation 
of this inquiry to wireless telegraphy and to the theory of 
optics, and similar investigations are now being conducted 
in the Department of Physics. " In the Department of 
Zoology, most of the research work has been devoted, as 
for several years past, to the study of the minute constitu- 
tion of living matter as shown by the microscopic study of 
the reproductive and developing cells. The results of this 
work have furnished a mechanism sufficient to account for 



Reaction of School upon Society 109 

most of the known properties of heredity. The laboratory 
workers in this Department are actively carrying forward 
the endeavor to bring together in synthesis the most modern 
discoveries of the microscope and the newest studies in 
heredity." In bacteriology, in physiology, and in the 
treatment of cancer, important investigations are being 
conducted. One phase of the work last mentioned is of 
special importance in a negative way, the investigation of 
widely advertised "cancer cures." Through such a study it 
becomes possible to warn the pubHc against quackery, even 
though a satisfactory treatment remains for future develop- 
ment. 

" These researches, all of which have been carried on in depart- 
ments dealing with experimental science, are but a fraction of those 
which have been and constantly are in progress throughout the 
University. Some of the investigations so earnestly pursued result 
in more or less important additions to theoretical knowledge, but 
many of them relate directly to practical problems and have imme- 
diate bearing on the public welfare. Of this character are the 
elaborate inquiries that were undertaken for the recent Constitutional 
Convention of the State of New York by the Legislative Drafting 
Bureau, and for the Committee on Taxation appointed by the Mayor 
of the City of New York." (Annual Report of President Butler of 
Columbia University, Nov., 1915, pages 34-39.) 

The university is thus clearly an important force in giving 
humanity an increasing mastery of nature, in bringing 
about a growing knowledge of humanity itself, and in de- 
veloping a progressive spirit both inside and outside its 
walls. The carefulness, the patience, the endurance of the 
scientist may well offer humanity in general an example of 
that attitude and that spirit necessary to real and permanent 
progress. 

Socializing the Individual 

What has been said concerning the work and influence of 
the school as a means of transmitting the culture of the race 



110 The School as a Social Institution 

and of assisting in the great work of advancing human 
learning would be without its most significant meaning if we 
The school overlooked the end toward which both of these 
uses its processes are or should be directed, — the socializ- 
materiaJ^to ^^^ of the individual. The school has set for 
socialize the it the definite task of the social transformation 
individual ^£ ^j^^ living material which comes within reach 
of its influence. The family as an institution is Ukely 
to have a narrow view, to display a tendency to empha- 
size the needs of the individual or the small group; the 
Church, with a wider horizon which embraces all hu- 
manity, is still Hkely to emphasize only one phase of life, 
the reUgious ; various industrial and professional institu- 
tions are almost certain to devote practically all their energy 
to the advancement of their own members ; the civil or- 
ganization, municipal, state, or national, while it is coming 
more and more to assume functions that are social, is still 
predominantly political, handicapped by partizanship and 
often Hmited by a narrowly sectional view of affairs. In 
contrast with all this, the school is an institution which can 
perform its real work only to the extent that it develops in 
the rising generation a social outlook which is broader than 
that of family, municipality, State, and even Church. More- 
over, this social outlook must be the intellectual accom- 
paniment of an emotional and voHtional attitude of social 
responsibility. 

To be intellectually trained is not always to be social in 
spirit. To illustrate, we may refer to the philosophical 
schools of Greece, in which advancement in the 
have°not intellectual life required a withdrawal from the 
always been affairs of life, often with no subsequent return 
sphif"^ to society. The hfe of learning seemed so in- 
compatible with the hurlyburly of worldly 
matters that the scholar was tempted to live in seclusion. 
Even at the present time the attractiveness of mere scholar- 



Reaction of School upon Society 111 

ship is often great enough to lead even the conscientious 
from a Hfe of service to one of seclusion. We still know the 
force of the lines : — 

"The scholar and the world, the endless strife, 
The discords in the harmonies of life!" 

The modern school nevertheless tends to become broader 
in scope, more closely connected with other institutions 
such as the home and the State, more truly con- ^^^ ^j^^ 
scious of its true social function. Hence it be- modem 
comes more effective as a social institution, more !Lo?;J,!o «# 

' conscious or 

devoted to the great work of giving the culture of its social 

the past that social value which makes it sig- "°'^**°° 
nificant in the present and prophetic of the future. Under 
conditions different from these, the school is likely to become 
the dead hand of the past holding oncoming generations 
within the limits of that development which loses its value 
when it hinders further growth. 

To emphasize the obvious and point out the direction 
which this discussion is to take in succeeding chapters, we 
may here mention a few details which concern jjenceit 
the manner in which the school carries on its uses a 
great work of socializing the rising genera- ^^^to 
tion. There is, first of all, the curriculum, accomplish 
that epitome of the culture which we have **^^° ^ 
already emphasized. To this is added the method of using 
this material in such a way as to make real the values 
which it ideally represents. In addition to the work which 
is centered in the course of study there is an increasing 
number of other activities which are specially designed to 
make the school more truly social in its nature, more effec- 
tively an active force in a large number of the various phases 
of life which are characteristic of the community in which 
it is situated. Above all these factors in potential social 
importance is the teacher. Within the past century at- 



112 The School as a Social Institution 

tention has been directed so much to curriculum, method, 
and the machinery of administration that we have almost 
come to regard them as infalHbly efifective regardless of 
the living human factor upon whom more depends in reality 
than upon any other single agency. Our schools will be- 
come more and more mechanical until we are able to dis- 
cover some means of finding, encouraging, and using person- 
ality. At present this is a quality too intangible and 
elusive for our crude system of educational machinery. 
Perhaps the next step in educational progress will be the 
adequate development of the present beginnings in the 
training and selection of teachers. 

The discussion in succeeding chapters will take up the 
various topics suggested in the foregoing discussion and 
expand the fundamental idea here presented, that of the 
school making use of these various elements for social pur- 
poses. 

The Effect of the School upon Class Lines or Dis- 
tinctions 

From man's place in the biological world it is evident that 
great variations in individuals are to be expected, that men 
Individual ^^^^ naturally be divided into the fit and the 
and class unfit. The study of history shows that it is the 
are^'^natural ^sual thing for human beings to form groups for 
results of the better realization of certain common pur- 
hM'emty and Poses ; that lines of division in the population 
environ- may become hereditary and that castes may 
^^^ result; that changing conditions have a con- 

tinual tendency to test the effectiveness of the old dis- 
tinctions and perhaps modify or destroy them. Modern 
economic conditions tend to emphasize certain distinc- 
tions; religion has, since the Protestant Revolt, had 
a tendency to divide people into rather sharply defined 
groups; and even education has the effect of widening 



Reaction of School upon Society 113 

the gulf between the learned and the ignorant. At present, 
whatever the historic background of classes and castes, 
the line of division which attracts most attention and 
arouses most feeHng is that which distinguishes producer 
from parasite, worker from idler, man of toil from man of 
leisure. 

In this chapter, as in the discussion of Social Conditions 
which Control the School, no attempt is made to present a 
scientific arrangement of what are loosely called social 
classes. The crude distinctions of everyday life, the loose 
grouping into classes according to common purpose, resem- 
blance, or common interest are sufficient for our present need. 

Influence of the Class School. In our brief survey of 
the development of the idea of the school as a social in- 
stitution (Chap. I), we saw that the history of 
the institution was for the most of the time an school fends 
account of the special instrument of some favored to make 

class lin 
stronger 



class. As such, it naturally tended to emphasize *^ *^^ °®^ 



those lines of social cleavage which from the be- 
ginning determined its character. Of a certain type of 
private school the same is true to-day. Those schools 
which are specially established for the wealthy or for the 
so-called aristocratic depend for their success upon their 
exclusiveness ; and hence they react upon the causes which 
produce them in such a manner as to emphasize these social 
differences which set their patrons off from the common 
herd. Snobbery thus becomes more snobbish, even in a 
country where the general ideal is democratic. 

Not all private schools are guilty of spreading this evil 
influence nor indeed are all pubUc schools free from it. In 
a country like Germany where a certain type of school, the 
Gymnasium for example, is in reality a class school al- 
though it is controlled and partly supported by the State, 
there is the same tendency to perpetuate the kinds of differ- 
ence which, existing in society itself, make the school what 



114 The School as a Social Institution 

it is. In contrast with this it is possible for the private 
school to grow out of such a desire to render social serv- 
ice as will make it as free from snobbery as is unsophisti- 
cated childhood itself. 

The evil effects of the class school are seen not merely in 
the fact that class hnes are emphasized but also in the 

segregation of the children of this group in such 
gation^^ra a manner as to deprive them of the intellectual 
favored few and moral advantages of association with chil- 
nate for ' dren who are considerably different from them, 
them and for That free association which develops individual 

power and self-reUance is difficult to secure in a 
school in which the pupils are continually coddled, petted, 
and pampered. Society thus suffers a double injury: the 
intensification of class lines and the loss of such benefits 
as would come from a freer intermingling of children of 
different social groups. 

It is conceivable that in the future development of de- 
mocracy and the improvement of the state school system 

the class school will be eliminated either by sheer 
^e^ati^nshi ^o^ce of social pressure or by definite legislation, 
between On the other hand, it is equally possible that the 
^choofs and pi'sssing demands for economic efficiency may 
public edu- result in magnifying the class idea even in the 
doubtfuT state school system. At present the school is 

confronted with the two possibilities of drifting 
with the various currents of social life or setting itself reso- 
lutely to the task of maintaining and spreading the demo- 
cratic ideal in spite of all temptations to adopt the class idea. 
Influence of the Dissemination of Knowledge. In those 
days when the school was almost entirely a class institution, 
one reason for such opposition as there was to the estab- 
lishment of schools for all was the fear that the acquisition 
of knowledge on the part of those who were destined to 
perform the hard manual labor of the world would lead 



Reaction of School upon Society 115 

to the overthrow of existing institutions. It was believed 
that increased knowledge and intelligence would be so great 
a social danger that providing schools for the 
masses was practically a crime. Bernard Mande- lege^^"^" 
ville, in his Fable of the Bees (published in classes have 
1705), argued against schools for the poor in general 
the belief that " the knowledge of the working dissemina- 
poor should be confined within the verge of ^o^igdge 
their occupations and never extended (as to 
things visible) beyond what relates to their calling." He 
beHeved that " reading, writing, and arithmetic are very 
necessary to those whose business requires such qualifi- 
cations ; but where proper livelihood has no dependence 
upon these arts, they are very pernicious to the poor." 
Believing that " every hour these people spend on a book is 
lost to society," he advocated that the poor should be 
brought up in ignorance so that they would be insensible 
to their hard lot. This condition would, he thought, make 
provisions and labor cheap and thus England would be able 
to outsell all her neighbors. 

The thing which Mandeville feared has come to pass in 
many countries and the results show that while some of his 
selfish class fears were well founded he little understood the 
benefits which come to industry as well as to society in 
general through an educated citizenry. 

Through the dissemination of knowledge there is a tend- 
ency to equalize some of the artificial differences which 
separate class from class, that is, to break down 
some of the barriers that prevent unity of social gemination 
effort and general progress. The mere broaden- of knowi- 
ing of vision which comes with increased knowl- ^o^weaken^ 
edge is in itself a powerful factor in destroying the artificial 
class lines. Yet where other factors at work in „!!!!!!!*^^L 

among men 

society continue to operate in such a way as to 
emphasize artificial distinctions which have grown up to 



116 The School as a Social Institution 

separate groups of human beings from groups of their 
fellows, the wider outlook may result only in deepening 
the bitterness which the exploited feels toward the ex- 
ploiter. In general, however, it may be said that as the 
school is a means of disseminating knowledge it is the 
instrument of society as a whole for the breaking down 
of those lines which often render it impossible for classes 
to cooperate for the general good ; that while the immediate 
effect of added intelligence is to magnify difference, in- 
equahties, and the sense of social injustice, the ultimate 
effect is to make more easily possible that understanding 
and cooperation between class and class which makes social 
evolution a substitute for revolution. 

The School and Ease of Shifting from Class to Class. 

It has been seen that the school may serve merely to accen- 

. tuate class lines which already exist, or that it may 

ing the ease assist in their effacement. Where the school offers 

of shifting ^ means for the son to rise above the class of his 

from class . 

to class, the parents it must have some tendency to obliterate 

school offers ^j^g intermediate lines. Where the son of the 

centive to laboring man may use the school as a stepping 

individual stone to one of the professions it is not likely 
progress , 

that there can be the same degree of ill feeling 

as when the school and other social institutions are a 
practical barrier to the ambitious who wish to improve 
their condition by rising above the class into which they 
are born. It is not so much one's position in the world as 
the sense of being bound down that sears the soul and 
creates the feeling that social conditions are intolerable. 
In a democratic country, where the population is con- 
tinually shifting socially as well as geographically, the 
opportunity for individual advancement is so great in the 
various walks of hfe that it is very difficult to arouse much 
resentment between classes. In the group of conditions 
which make such advancement possible, the school is the 



Reaction of School upon Society 117 

means which appeals most powerfully to the imagination 

of the masses and the one which offers the largest hope that 

individual ability will be able to arise to its own proper level 

instead of being bound forever to that plane where the 

accident of birth or poverty placed it. 

The School and Denominational Lines. Because of 

the great religious interest of a large number of the early 

settlers, and because of the fact that many of 

them sought these shores as a refuge from their '^^^ impor- 

persecutors, it happened that denominational sectarian 

lines were long marked with the greatest sharp- distinctions 

a ,..,,., ^ « .. (greatinour 

ness. reparation m their places oi worship, earfy his- 

differences in belief and practice, and sometimes *°^) ^*^ 

even differences in dress, all had a tendency to creased by 

make one kind of Christian seem a very different ^^^^ '^^- 

cumstfliiccs 

sort of person from another. Separation with —the 
the resulting lack of intercourse naturally pro- school being 
duced suspicion and ill will. It has been one of entiai force 
the greatest blessings of the United States that 
circumstances have so operated that much of the de- 
nominational isolation has broken down, with the re- 
sult that there has come better understanding, greater 
tolerance, and consequently less suspicion and hostility. 
Trade, industry, war, migration, newspapers, books, the 
various means of communication, and education have all 
operated to bring about these desirable results. In this 
work the school maintained by the State has had no small 
part ; for while the denominational school may have a 
tendency to preserve sectarian lines and emphasize the 
belief that the members of one sect are the special favorites 
of Heaven, the public school ignores all such differences. 
Where children of all classes or denominations meet together 
on a common level, where they learn to know each other as 
persons rather than as abstract and distorted representa- 
tions of doctrines and practices, suspicion and intolerance 



118 The School as a Social Institution 

change to respect and friendship. Thus the pubHc school, 
while not a religious institution, is helping greatly in the 
work of compelling denominationalism to give way to re- 
ligion. 

The Creation of Unity of Spirit. One of the curses of 
country Hfe has been the amount of unnecessary isolation 
which has existed, one of the chief results of which 
count^ and ^^^ ^^^^ ^^^^ °^ understanding of neighbors, sus- 
city, the picion, and often open hostility. In the attempts 
break (k)wn^ *^ break down the isolation of rural life, the school 
that isoia- has been a central feature, affording as it does a 
the^bs^is of ph^se of community life in which all have an 
suspicion interest and most have or have had a part. In 
union*^' the city where physical isolation seems impossible, 
but where actual spiritual isolation too frequently 
exists, the school has become in some cases a commu- 
nity center around which a great deal of neighborliness 
has been able to grow. But as a later chapter will deal 
with the School as a Social Center, it is not necessary 
to go into detail at the present time. 

What has been said of the work of the school as a means 
of breaking down religious intolerance or destroying isola- 
tion and building up friendly relations between 
heips^buUd classes is true in the larger field of developing 
up that that unity of spirit upon which the highest suc- 

spWt which ^^^^ °^ ^ democracy depends. It is obvious that 
is essential where employer and employee, producer and 
racy ^^°'^~ consumer, rich and poor, party member, church 
member, city dweller, and country dweller are 
animated by selfish purposes unleavened by the yeast of 
public spirit and the desire for the welfare of all, 
democracy can be but a jumble of confused and conflict- 
ing forces. The great work of the school is to give 
all increased breadth of vision, greater tolerance of spirit, 
stronger desire for the welfare of all, and higher ideals of 



Reaction of School upon Society 119 

social service. To the extent that the school can accom- 
plish such a work, it creates that unity of spirit which, 
rather than uniformity of opinion or conduct, is the founda- 
tion of our social life and the hope of the success of our 
experiment in democracy. In accomphshing this the 
school not only helps in the effacement of caste lines but 
also acts as a powerful force in preventing the rise of such 
distinctions. 

The Assimiiation of the Immigrant 

While European countries are not greatly perplexed with 
the problem of remaking large numbers of aliens who are 
continually added to their populations, the -w^e have the 
United States has had to deal with milUons of problem of 
people who have come as a flood to its shores, fff^ ^^^ 

'^ _ _ . . vast num- 

Within the past century approximately thirty bers of 
million immigrants have found their way here. *™""8ran s 
Of these the Irish were the first to arrive in large numbers, 
famine and oppressive landlordism being the forces behind 
them. There was a great wave of Irish immigration be- 
tween 1845 and 1855, and another in the early 'eighties. 
Of the total of more than four million Irish a very large 
proportion was illiterate. About half of those who came in 
the first wave could read and write, but hardly a fourth of 
those who came in the second were literate. At the time of 
the poUtical difficulties in various German states in 1848, 
we received large numbers of Germans, who, in contrast 
with the Irish who had begun to come a few years earlier, 
were a well-educated class. The total number of German 
immigrants since 1820 reaches a total of more than five 
millions. In addition to these great masses of Irish and 
Germans, we have received more than three million 
English, about two million Scandinavians, and great num- 
bers of Italians, Poles, Moravians, Finns, Greeks, Syrians, 
Austrians, Servians, Chinese, and Japanese, together with 



120 The School as a Social Institution 

Slavs, Poles, and Jews from Russia. In 1910, there were 
within the United States 13,345,545 white foreigners, of 
whom 6,646,817 were males of voting age, 3,612,700 of 
whom were not citizens. 

The great problem of assimilation grows not so much 
out of the mere multitude of foreigners as out of the world 
of conflicting ideals and customs which they 
Juitp*^s^- bring with them. Most of those who have come 
creased by have had to learn to adjust themselves to a mode 
ideais^*"^^ of life in which more or less oppressive govern- 
mental interference is replaced by an amount of 
liberty which demands the learning of the great lesson of 
responsibility. 

The complete assimilation of the immigrant adult is a 
very difficult process ; for he brings with him the habits of 
a lifetime, even though he may be thrilled with 
habits^v- ^^® vision of freedom and economic independ- 
ing condi- ence. Furthermore the living conditions of 
isoktion many of the great groups of our alien population 
are such that they are not reached effectively 
by our institutions. The conditions which surround the 
alien worker in railway construction, in mining, in manu- 
facturing often result in forming an almost completely 
encysted group of foreigners, a foreign island within our 
boundaries. 

But even the alien adult is not beyond the reach of the 
school, especially in large cities where patriotic boards of 
But even the education see the need and the possibility of 
adult alien Americanizing the foreigner. As an illustration 

reach of the ^® ^^^ ^^^® ^^® ^^^^ ^^ Rochester, N. Y. Here 
school, — the public schools have for years given some kind 
ample of' °^ training to the immigrant. Since 1905 the 
Rochester city has followed a definitely planned scheme for 
^ "'^^ the education of adults as adults, the following 

being the aims characteristic of the work : — 



Reaction of School upon Society 121 

1. To teach prospective Americans to read, speak, and write 
English ; 

2. To give them practical information that will make their lives 
easier and safer ; 

3. To prepare them for intelligent and patriotic American citi- 
zenship by making them familiar with our laws, customs, ideals, 
and the fundamental facts of our history. {The Outlook, Feb. 23, 
1913, page 442.) 

Through cooperation with the Federal authorities the 
Rochester Board of Education is able to reach the alien who 
comes to the city and place before him a statement of the 
educational opportunities which are offered and urge him to 
make the most of them. The judges have also taken notice 
of the work done and have felt that they could make the ex- 
aminations stricter, — thus raising the standard of citizenship. 

" The number enrolled in Rochester's classes for grown-up 
immigrants has steadily increased until this year there 
are about 2500 on the lists. The Italians outnumber any 
other nationality, with Russians, mostly Jews, in the second 
place." Other peoples represented are Austrians, Germans, 
Poles, Dutch, Greeks, Turks, Swedes, Bulgarians, Hun- 
garians, Armenians, Cubans, Mexicans, and Brazilians. 

The school is thus reacting upon the adult ahen popula- 
tion in such a way as to assist in Americanizing them, raise 
the standard of citizenship, and give great distinction to 
the idea of becoming a citizen. 

While only here and there does the school take up the 
burden of educating the adult alien, it reaches his children 
everywhere he goes. When they enter the school ^j^^ ^^^^^ 
they are not as handicapped by difficulties of part of the 
language as he is, since they have little or nothing ass^ifation 
to unlearn. The school is thus able to give a mas- is that of 
tery of English, at least within the Hmits of ^"c^dfen 
practical use ; although the use of the foreign of immi- 
tongue at home may be a very real hindrance. ^*^*^ 
In association with other children in the schoolroom and 



122 The School as a Social Institution 

on the playground, the little foreigners rapidly acquire a 
great deal of the American spirit, some familiarity with 
American customs, and a growing desire to shed those charac- 
teristics that distinguish the foreigner. In the schoolroom 
itself they are continually in contact with the English lan- 
guage, with literature and history, and with American ideals. 

In addition to this influence which the school exerts upon 
the children through the curriculum, through association 
with young Americans, and through the personality of the 
teacher, there is also the force brought to bear upon the 
parents through the children. 

In an absorbing account of her own Americanization, 
Mary Antin, who was mentioned in the discussion of the 
influence of the family upon the school, describes 
the thrills which she felt as the process was going 
on. The title of the book, The Promised Land, reveals the 
attitude of the immigrant to his new home ; the writer con- 
siders herself not an isolated case but the representative of 
a large class. To her and to her parents, the school seemed 
one of the most marvelous institutions in a wonderful coun- 
try, — an institution which was worthy of the great sacrifices 
which they were all compelled to make in order that she 
might secure its benefits. Through it American history 
and ideals became a living reahty. Aspirations which 
were born in the heart of the little learner were carried home 
and there continued their influence. To be sure, the school 
was not the only Americanizing force in operation ; but it 
was the center of the whole process by which a family from 
oppressed Russia was being transformed into most enthu- 
siastic Americans. 

Social Reform 

It has been shown in a previous chapter (The Social 
Conditions which Control the School) that the reformer 
naturallj^ turns to the school as one of the most promising 



Reaction of School upon Society 123 

means of improving or reforming society ; that organizations 
which have philanthropic aims often look to it as the insti- 
tution most likely to make their, ideals real ; that 
even the civil government relies upon it to assist is a means 
materially in making its work effective. As cer- °^ social 
tain parts of the social body which are further 
advanced in ideals than the masses are in practice have a 
strong tendency to modify the school, the school in turn 
reacts upon society and becomes one of the forces of social 
reform. 

Most obvious, of course, is the fight against ignorance. 
A hundred years ago it was no great disgrace to be altogether 
unfamiliar with the very rudiments of learning 
— reading and writing. Through the work of proy^^ing "^ 
the school the amount of illiteracy has been de- general en- 
creased so greatly that in 1910 the percentage for j^^^^^' 
the entire population of the continental United 
States (counting persons of ten years and over) was only 
seven and seven tenths, while in ten of the states the per- 
centage was three or less. . The figures for the whole country 
are increased considerably because of the fact that the 
percentage of illiterates of foreign birth is more than 
twelve and that of negroes is more than thirty, — these two 
groups making up more than a fourth of the entire popu- 
lation. 

Mere figures regarding illiteracy, however, do not tell the 
whole story df the warfare against ignorance. The ability 
to read and write does not of itself insure a wide intellectual 
horizon, nor even an interest in anything more than getting 
the bare necessities of life. But since the curriculum of the 
elementary school has been enriched with a vast amount of 
human material to supplement the traditional " three R's " 
and the high school has developed into the " People's 
College," the bounds of ignorance are being pressed farther 
and farther back. Of the total population of the United 



124 The School as a Social Institution 

States we find about one fourth enrolled in the schools, — 
of whom more than a million are in secondary schools and 
more than three hundred thousand in colleges, universities, 
and professional institutions. 

We can appreciate the meaning of this more fully -as we 
contrast it with the conditions which existed in a city-state 
that has always fired the imagination as an example of en- 
lightenment — Athens in the time of Pericles. There the 
advantages of school attendance were limited not merely 
to the free, who constituted a minority of the total popula- 
tion, but to the well-to-do among the free. Even the 
amount of learning available was slight in comparison with 
the content of the modern curriculum. Although it is true 
that a select few attained enviable intellectual develop- 
ment, the total amount of ignorance in the state was very 
great. 

Ignorance and poverty are evils so closely related that the 
reformers of a century ago expected to diminish both through 
a single process — education. The school, as 
also wages we have seen, has gone about the work success- 
war against fully enough to force back the boundaries of 

poverty . 

igiiorance beyond mere literacy for a majority 

of the adult population; but we still have unnumbered 
multitudes who have not attained economic independence 
or even a living wage. For the family which has a certain 
degree of actual or potential wealth, the school is " the way 
out " from the present level of living to a higher one. So 
great is this movement through what seems the most promis- 
ing outlet that the professions seem in great danger of being 
so overcrowded that they will no longer offer superior 
economic advantages. But, going back to the very poor, 
we find that while a few are able to break the chains of 
poverty and gain freedom through the school and various 
other means, the httle schooHng which the vast majority 
of children receive (fewer than half complete the work of the 



Reaction of School upon Society 125 

first six years of the elementary school) does not serve to give 
much relief from poverty ; that while the school does serve 
to give perceptible economic improvement to 
some, it has not yet been able to make what it tion is not a 
offers the unfailing means of solving the problem panacea for 
of poverty. Capacity, energy, ambition, and in- 
dustry are qualities too elusive for uniformly successful 
development by the school as it exists at present; and 
perhaps they can never be dealt with as successfully as can 
mere intellectual, physical, or vocational training. Through 
a long course of study the young man may be prepared in- 
tellectually to be physician, lawyer, or clergyman ; but that 
indefinable personal something which means success can- 
not be created by the school. Likewise, for children who 
complete only the work of the elementary school, the in- 
tellectual implements for greater success in the work of life 
may be provided ; but if heredity, the home, and the Church, 
have not cooperated in developing ideals, ambition, in- 
dustry, honesty, and the whole host of necessary virtues, 
what the school has done will be of comparatively slight 
importance. 

In fine, we may say that although the school and poverty 
are natural enemies, we cannot expect the final conquest of 
poverty to result from education alone. Indeed, if one may 
judge from the panaceas that are offered at present, com- 
paratively little is expected of the school, while much is 
expected of political and social activity. Yet when the day 
of complete social justice shall arrive and the curse of poverty 
be removed, the school will still have its problem of over- 
coming the essence of all poverty, which is not of the body 
but of the mind. 

Against even the last of that trio of wretchedness, igno- 
rance, poverty, and vice, the school must wage warfare ; 
even though it be " too pure to behold evil." Where the 
State uses compulsion and the Church persuasion and warn- 



126 The School as a Social Institution 

ing for the purpose of preventing and curing, the school 
must use its forces to keep vice from developing rather than 

to eradicate it where it has already appeared, 
combats Just how far the school should go in giving 
vice in a positive attention to the various dangers that 
and also ' threaten society is not a matter of agreement 
makes a among educators ; but already the work of com- 
against cer- bating the evils of intemperance has had a con- 
tain forms of siderable growth. The schools in a majority of 

the states have as a regular part of their work 
some kind of temperance instruction. There has been no 
adequate way of measuring the results of such teaching 
and there is at present quite a widespread feeling that 
as much of the material offered has been sensational and 
unscientific, the results have not been what zealous and 
well-meaning temperance advocates expected ; but the spread 
of prohibition is offered as evidence of success. Quite re- 
cently some schools have been attempting to combat the 
" social evil " by giving instruction in sex hygiene ; but the 
time has not yet come for a satisfactory evaluation of such 
work. Indeed it is not yet generally believed that the 
school ought to give such instruction or that it can give it 
effectively, difficulties and dangers appearing on every 
hand. 

Summary 

In our examination of the various ways in which the 
school reacts upon the society which creates and perpetuates 
it we have found that it does something more than merely 
transmit culture : it remakes it, or better, it causes the ex- 
perience of the race to be rehved. We found also that in 
this process of passing along culture to succeeding genera- 
tions the school becomes a selective agency, approving or 
rejecting, not according to the real ability of the pupil but 
according to his fitness to carry on the kind of work which 

\ 



Reaction of School upon Society 127 

the school offers. In addition to its work as a transmitter of 
culture, the school has added to its influence upon society by 
helping carry on the great struggle for the advancement 
of learning, combining the work of teaching and study in 
' higher institutions with that of research into things hitherto 
unknown. A phase of school work which is being more and 
more emphasized is that of sociaUzing the individual, not 
merely presenting him with the intellectual, moral, religious, 
and aesthetic inheritance which has largely been reduced to 
printed form. The pupil with the ability to read can of 
himself acquire a very great deal of the material which has 
come down from the past ; but without long continued as- 
sociation with others, especially with those who can guide 
and control him, he will be a stranger among his fellow 
human beings. The school adds the living, the personal 
element that is necessary in the work of socialization. In 
such a work as this the pubUc school has a certain tendency 
to break down the natural and artificial lines that mark 
people off into classes or castes ; although it is true that the 
school estabUshed for the sole benefit of a certain class is 
likely to have the effect of making class lines more notice- 
able. A part of this great work of sociahzation has come, 
in this country, to be the assimilation of the immigrant, 
first through the education of the children, but of late years 
through school work for adults also. In all its work the 
school acts as a great force in the unification of society, 
thus helping very much in the attainment of those demo- 
cratic ideals which are believed to be the foundation of our 
social and poUtical life. In addition to the work already 
described, the school also acts as one of the means of social 
reform, helping materially in the fight against ignorance, 
poverty, vice, and the insidious force of isolation which tends 
to nulUfy the social spirit by breeding misunderstanding, 
suspicion, and even hostiUty. 



128 The School as a Social Institution 



BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Antin, Mart, The Promised Land. Especially Chapters IX, X, 
and XI. 

Bacon, Francis, The New Atlantis. 

Betts, G. H., Social Principles of Education. Chapter V, Educa- 
tion and Institutional Modes of Expression. 

Butler, N. M., Annual Report of the President of Columbia Uni- 
versity for 1915-1916. 

Dewey, John, Democracy and Education. Chapter II, Education 
as a Social Function. 

King, Irving, Social Aspects of Education. Chapter XI, Educa- 
tion as a Factor in Social Progress ; Chapter XII, Education 
as a Factor in Social Reform. 

Miller, H. A., The School and the Immigrant. 

Ross, E. A., Social Psychology. Chapter XIII, Conditions Affect- 
ing the Sway of Custom. 

Ross, E. A., Social Control. Chapter XIV, Social Suggestion — 
Education. 

Scott, C. A., Social Education. Chapter I, The Social Relation- 
ships of the School. 



CHAPTER V 
THE SCHOOL AS A PROTECTIVE AGENCY 



The well-being of a state is as much dependent upon the strength, 
health, and productive capacity of its members as it is upon their 
knowledge and intelligence. In order that it may insure the effi- 
ciency of its citizens, the state, through its compulsory education 
enactments requires its youth to pursue certain studies which ex- 
perience has proved necessary to secure that efficiency. Individual 
efficiency, however, rests not alone on education or intelligence, 
but is equally dependent on physical health and vigor. — Ayres, 
Health Work in the Public Schools (Cleveland Survey), page 17. 



A very obvious fact which has only gradually become plain 
to humanity is that the welfare of the State is inseparable 
from the conservation of childhood. Children are 
no longer regarded as the property of their parents, tionof chUd- 
to be exploited as ignorance and family needs die- hood is one 
tate. So great has become the concern of the portant 
State for its own future welfare that the protection functions of 
of childhood has become a matter of universal ^°"®^ 
legislative concern. Instead of depending upon chance, 
philanthropy, the wisdom and affection of parents, or the 
operation of physical or economic laws, governments every- 
where have come to take definite legislative measures to 
provide safeguards for childhood. Protection from vice and 
crime, provision for adequate education, safeguards against 
exploitation by parents or employers, prevention of cruelty, 
reduction of infant disease, care of children's health, and 
provision of suitable support are all matters in which the 
State has assumed the right to legislate. 

129 



130 The School as a Social Institution 

The school, as the protector of childhood and defender 
of the State, wages continual warfare against ignorance 
and its attendant evils. It protects the children of the 
The school nation from exploitation through the application 
does various of compulsory attendance laws. Through the 
protective increase of intelligence and through the cultivation 
work of moral ideals and habits it raises barriers against 

vice and crime. It assumes a part of the work of protecting 
the child and the State from the evils of premature employ- 
ment, disease, and avoidable death. 

In this chapter the only phase of the various protective 
functions of the school to be considered is that of health 
supervision. 

The Need of Health Supervision 

At the present time there are in the United States approxi- 
mately twenty-three million children of school age. In this 
number there will be between one hundred 
A great thousand and one hundred fifty thousand deaths 

amount of . "^ 

preventable m the current year. Of these deaths about two 

disease thirds are believed to be preventable with the 

exists . ^ 

proper application of intelligence and care. The 

amount of ill health among these milHons of children is 
something stupendous in its total. W. H. Burnham esti- 
mates that not less than twenty-five per cent of the children 
of any school are likely to be handicapped by illness or defect 
of some kind. (Monroe, Cyclopedia of Education, IV : 317.) 
If defects of sight and hearing and diseases of the teeth are 
included, the percentage of children suffering from physical 
handicaps is considerably greater. Upon the basis of an 
investigation of 275,641 school children in the city of New 
York (1905 to 1908), it has been estimated that more than 
two thirds of the number of such children in the United 
States are in need of special attention in matters of health. 
(Monroe, Cyclopedia of Education, IV: 317.) This figure is 



The School as a Protective Agency 131 



• 



probably considerably too high, as may be inferred from the 
Cleveland statistics of 1914-15. Of about 75,000 children 
examined approximately forty-two per cent were found to 
have physical defects. (Ayres, Health Work in the Public 
Schools, page 26.) 

The loss to the school and to the State through illness of 
school children, although not a matter of accurate record, 
must be tremendous. The study made by Dr. 
C. H. Keyes, Progress through the Grades of City ^^^^^ i^^^' 
Schools, shows that the average loss of time in the to the school 
city which he studied (Hartford, Conn.) is about '^^^'ysrea 
ten days a year for each pupil. " This loss of time, under 
the general acceptance and rigid enforcement in the com- 
munity of the laws requiring constant attendance and pro- 
hibiting child labor, is practically a measure of the amount 
of illness in all grades from two to eight inclusive." If 
this average were evenly distributed among all children, 
there might be no very great loss represented ; since an 
absence of a day a month is not necessarily greatly detri- 
mental to a pupil's work. However, the average represents 
a great many children who have been absent more days than 
the figure indicates as well as a large number who have 
been absent fewer days. The result for many children is 
retardation and perhaps eventual elimination from the 
school. 

Even though lack of statistics makes it impossible to give 
an accurate statement of the actual loss which comes to the 
work of the school through the illness of pupils, such studies 
as have been made show that a real problem of enormous 
proportions exists. Loss of time, poor work, retardation, 
and elimination show the need of giving a great deal of 
attention to the protective function of the school. Further- 
more, in addition to the loss of time which is due to absence, 
a loss which can be measured when attendance records are 
kept with that in view, there is still another which cannot 



132 The School as a Social Institution 

be measured/ that which is due to the failure to profit by the 
work of the school because of poor health. 

Because of a realization of the meaning of the foregoing 
facts the school has been compelled to add to its work that 
of giving definite attention to health supervision, 
school is be- ^^ view of the fact that the school is already 
g|i"iing to burdened with many cares which have generally 
attention"to been considered as belonging to the family, it 
health might seem that it is demanding too much to re- 

supervision ^^[j.q ^j^jg additional service. Yet the appalling 
loss represented, the failure of the family or other institution 
to meet the need, and the desire for the welfare of the children 
and of the State, all compel the school to undertake this work 
of protecting childhood from disease and death as far as 
possible. 

Means and Methods of Protection 

1. Health Instruction. Before the middle of the nine- 
teenth century, largely under the influence of the modern 

scientific tendency, schools began to take up the 
Hygiene has work of instruction in physiology. This was 
replace/ chiefly a formal study of certain phases of anatomy 
anatomy rather than a physiology in the strict sense, 
idogyin^" Within recent years criticism of the school from 
elementary the psychological and social points of view has led 
aiy schools" ^o changes in this subject as well as in others 

such as arithmetic and geography. Less attention 
is now given to learning the names of the bones of the body 
and more to the care of health in general and of various parts 
of the body in particular. Attention is also given to health 
from the social point of view, that is, attention to public 
health and factors which affect it. 

1 See School and Society, Dec. 30, 1916, The Cost of Educating the 
Underfed, by Ira S. Wile. 



The School as a Protective Agency 133 

The social significance of such a change as is indicated 
in the preceding paragraph is very great, since it means 
that the school is coming to a realization of the ^ 
value of health as social wealth. It means, when has social 
taken in connection with other matters which are significance 
to be considered in this chapter, that the school has con- 
sciously begun to devote itself to the great social work of 
developing sound bodies as one of the bases of national 
wealth in addition to its age-old work of training the mind. 

The social tendency in the teaching of physiology and hy- 
giene is well shown in the following recommendation made 
in Bobbitt's What the Schools Teach and Might Teach (Cleve- 
land Survey) : — 

1. A course in hygiene and sanitation, based upon an abundance 
of reading, should be drawn up and taught by the regular teachers 
in the grammar school grades. . . . ; 

2. The school should arrange for practical applications of the 
preparatory knowledge in as many ways as possible. Children in 
relays can look after ventilation, temperature, humidity, dust, 
light, and other sanitary conditions of schoolrooms and grounds. 
They can make sanitary surveys of their home district ; engage in 
anti-fly, anti-mosquito, anti-dirt, and other campaigns ; and report 
— for credit possibly — practical sanitary and hygienic activities 
carried on outside the school. Only as such knowledge is put to 
work is it assimilated and the prime purpose of education accom- 
plished. (Page 86.) 

From the social point of view two rather difficult problems 
come up in the work of health instruction ; public health 
in a general way and sex hygiene. The health of Especially 
any individual is of such concern to others under difficult are 
the conditions of modern life that the school can- lems^Tpub- 
not afford to make the study of hygiene merely a i»c health 
matter of the health of the individual. This is likewise 
true not only of sweatshop workers who may infect the prod- 
ucts which they make and distribute ultimately to thou- 
sands, but even of the farmer in his apparent isolation. 



134 The School as a Social Institution 

The problem of the school is to bring into the lives of children 
not only a knowledge of proper hygienic conditions at home 
and in the community but also to lead to conscientious effort 
to realize in practice what is taught in theory. 

The matter of sex hygiene offers a peculiarly difficult prob- 
lem. Menacing social evil of a very serious and very 
and sex extensive nature has led to a strong demand that 
hygiene education be provided to ward off the threatened 
danger. It is not certain, however, that the school is the 
best place for instruction in such a matter, whether, on the 
one hand, the instruction is given by physicians or nurses 
who may be supposed to have special qualifications so far 
as knowledge is concerned, or, on the other hand, by teachers 
who can rarely be expected to be properly qualified for such 
work. Furthermore we do not know whether it is well to 
make sex hygiene a special subject of instruction or to deal 
with it in connection with nature study, biology, or general 
hygiene. In opposition to the idea of making sex hygiene 
a special subject it is urged that such treatment does more 
harm than good because of the overemphasis which it gives 
the sex idea. Just how much can be done by the other 
method (thai of treating the topic in connection with the 
subjects mentioned) and how well it can be done are problems 
that are yet to be solved. 

If the school is to undertake the work at all, it seems 
that there is here an opportunity for closer 

The solution . . , 1111 1 

of the prob- cooperation between home and school than has 
lems of hitherto existed. Without the aid and sympathy 

hygiene de- . . ./ t- ^ 

mands of parents it is hardly likely that the maximum 

closer CO- good Can result ; against their opposition little 

op6rfl.tion. 

between can be done. Even when the school assumes the 
home and initiative, it is probably wise to throw the burden 

school . •^ ^^^ , , 

01 responsibility upon the home. 
2. Physical Training. Anticipating health instruction 
and supplementing it to a certain extent is the work of 



The School as a Protective Agency 135 

physical training. Ordinarily what is called physical training 
is merely more or less mild exercise given primarily for relaxa- 
tion or bodily development, not much real train- physical 
ing being specially noticeable. In this matter the training 

/->( 1 • i 1 c J 1 • should be 

Greeks were wiser than any of their successors ; educational 
for with them there was actual training, real no* merely 
effort to make the process full of meaning. If 
they lacked in the theoretical part of physical education, 
they more than made up for it by their wise attention to 
the matter of training, of control, and of moral relations 
back of physical development. We find here a valuable 
suggestion for the work of physical training in our mod- 
ern schools : to the exercises which are meant for relaxa- 
tion and perhaps for general development there should be 
added kinds of work which will represent real education. 
If the most is to be made of the health work in the school, 
the instruction which is given in courses in physiology and 
hygiene should be closely connected with the often crudely 
organized work of physical training to the end that this work 
may be raised to a plane of effectiveness that is impossible 
under the ordinary random arrangement. 

When physical training expands into athletics it begins 
to assume a character that exhibits various social values 
in addition to the health work which is described 
in the preceding paragraphs. In athletics there there are 
is the possibility of bringing about moral develop- real social 
ment through the cultivation of high ideals of 
sportsmanship. There is also opportunity to give training 
in that type of cooperation which is necessary to success 
in the play of teams. Whether such training has much 
value in later life may be questioned ; but it seems to be the 
unanimous opinion of those who have had it that its 
value is very great. 

If there are important social values in school athletics, 
there are also great dangers. All who are familiar with 



136 The School as a Social Institution 

the matter, whether in college, high school, or elementary 
school, know that the spirit which characterizes it is not 
and certain always conducive to real manhood, that the desire 
dangers ^q ^^^ often presents temptations which are too 
strong for youth to bear, that every major sport (perhaps 
every minor one as well) has a monopolizing tendency which 
interferes with other phases of the work of the school. We 
have then the anomaly of an activity becoming anti-social 
through the social force which animates it. 

Since the beginning of the Great War considerable atten- 
tion has been given to the desirability of transforming the 
physical training and athletics of the school into 
^in^ in inilitary training. In spite of the experience of 
elementary other nations it has been urged that the students 
^ schods ^^ ^^^ secondary schools be given systematic 
is not a military training and the idea has found favor 
^l^^l f with some legislators. In the State of New 

means or ° 

education or York, for example, a law has been passed which 
defense requires such training; although the commis- 
sion which has charge of the administration of the 
law minimizes the military features and magnifies the idea 
of physical training and health. To any one not obsessed 
with the current war madness it must seem obvious that a 
secondary school is not the place for making soldiers or even 
for giving a kind of preliminary training which places 
emphasis upon the military idea. If military training is 
to be required it is manifestly unjust to impose the burden 
upon those who continue in school into the period of 
secondary education. There is little to lead to the beHef 
that boys in the adolescent period are likely to profit by such 
training, while there is much to cause one to pause before 
attempting to take a step toward a kind of work which is 
likely to result in a development of the spirit of militarism. 
That the school has a protective function does not mean 
that it is to supplant the army or even to attempt to supple- 



The School as a Protective Agency 137 

ment the work of that arm of the State, The protective 
function of the school is concerned with health rather than 
with training in arms. 

3. Open-Air Schools. Of every one hundred children 
in the ordinary city school system probably from three to 
five are physically weakened to such an extent q^ account 
that they are in actual need of some agency of poor 
which can give special attention to the upbuilding chiW^n**™* 
of their bodies. Ayres estimates that of these cannot prof- 
children at least a third are either definitely ^^^/ ^l 
suffering from tuberculosis or are " pretuber- ordinary 
culous." Because of the need of such children ^^'*°°^ 
there has developed within the past few years a special 
agency for their care, the open-air school, — the first such 
institution having been established at Charlottenburg, 
Germany, in 1904. 

The purpose of such schools is indicated in the foregoing 
paragraph in a general way. These institutions are designed 
to assist children in the recovery of health while 
they are given a hmited amount of school work, ^^ ^e™ air 
the more immediate purpose being to provide school has 
plenty of pure air, good food, and warm clothing to cr^e^ed 
the end that the ultimate purpose may be realized. 

The nature of the work is somewhat like that of the 
ordinary school with special attention given to physical 
needs, rest, sleep, food, clothing, and air. The amount of 
study is about half that of the regular school ; but it is 
universally found that the pupils do remarkably well in 
their work. In the Charlottenburg school it was shown 
that while the pupils who entered were too weak and 
backward to do regular school work (although they 
were not subnormal mentally), they not only made rapid 
increase in weight and strength but also did such good 
work in their studies that they did not fall behind the 
regular classes. 



138 The School as a Social Institution 

The administration of open-air schools in this country- 
offers a good example of the process by which a new type of 
organization may be expected to work its way 
school now i^^o the regular state system. Practically two 
shows the thirds of all such schools are maintained through 
course of ^^^ cooperation of the board of education with 
develop- some kind of public or philanthropic society such 

ment from •,• • ix/^iiii i- 

private to ^^ ^^ association organized to fight tuberculosis, 
public con- This means that this particular phase of the pro- 
tective function of the school is recognized by 
social agencies outside the institution itself and through 
their suggestion and assistance the school is encouraged and 
enabled to widen the scope of its work. If the usual course 
of history is repeated we may confidently expect that within 
the next few years all large cities, many of the smaller ones, 
and probably many of the towns will make the open-air 
school a regular part of the local system. 

4. Provision for Feeding School Children. Within the 

past few years considerable attention has been given to the 

question of the adequate nourishment of the 

Investiga- children who attend public schools. Some of 

tions have ^ 

shown that the investigations which have been made show 
lackofnour- conditions which are startling and which threaten 

ishment is . ° 

a cause of the effectiveness of a large part of school work, 
much poor jj^ ^^xe National Association of 1904, Dr. Maxwell 

school work ' 

reported that hundreds of thousands of children 

were unable to learn on account of hunger. The New York 
Committee on the Physical Welfare of School Children 
reported (1907) that thirteen per cent of 990 children 
examined were suffering from malnutrition ; and Sill (1909) 
estimated that forty per cent of the children in the elemen- 
tary schools of New York City were poorly nourished. In 
Chicago (1908) twelve per cent were reported as suffering 
from malnutrition ; and in Boston (1909) underfeeding was 
found in sixteen per cent of more than five thousand children 



The School as a Protective Agency 139 

studied. Similar reports come from other cities, ranging 
from five per cent in Rochester to twenty-four per cent in 
Philadelphia. 

In view of such astonishing facts as those set forth in 
the preceding paragraph, it seems that school work must be 
greatly hampered by the lack of proper feeding of 

• • • ■ This Icflds 

children ; and from this idea it is easy to pro- ^^ tj^e j^ga 
ceed to the belief that it is the business of the that the 
school to see that remedial measures are provided, should pro- 
The most obvious solution of the difficulty is to yide food for 
have the school provide for the feeding of pupils, 
— to arrange for the serving of school lunches. 

In opposition to the institution of this practice it is urged 
that there is likely to result a pauperizing of children, that 
there is undue interference with the functions 
of the home, that the whole scheme is "social- tionthat*^" 
istic." To people accustomed to public fire de- suchaprac- 
partments, public police protection, free schools, u gociaiis- 
and even public museums, libraries, art galleries, tic" is 
baths, and recreation centers the word " so- 
cialistic " has no longer any terrors. In past ages the work 
of education was regarded as the function of the home ; and 
feeding the child does not seem a greater interference with 
the home than teaching him to read and write. As for 
pauperizing children, a free lunch does not seem to be more 
dangerous than a free lesson in arithmetic. Sweeping 
aside artificial arguments against the school lunch, we may 
say that where provision is made for it, justification for the 
step lies in the fact that it is the duty of the school not only 
to provide education but to take all reasonable measures to 
insure the maximum effectiveness of that education. If 
children, on account of lack of proper nourishment, are 
unable to profit adequately by the instruction offered by the 
school, then it becomes the duty of the school to see that they 
are sufiiciently fed. 



140 The School as a Social Institution 

In addition to the hygienic value of the school lunch there 
is often mentioned its educational significance. Practical 
opportunity is offered to enforce in an effective 
lunch has way the ideas that are presented in the course 
educational jj^ physiology and hygiene ; for example, the care 
hygienic of the teeth, the adequate mastication of food, the 
value proper mental attitude at meal time, the right 

selection of foods, the necessity of cleanliness, the danger 
from flies. Furthermore the serving of the lunch may become 
the occasion for lessons in cooperation and for the develop- 
ment of the group spirit. Courtesy, consideration for 
others, and some experience in rendering service to others 
are further details that appear in connection with this work. 

The administration of the school lunch is a matter of 
mechanical detail which has not yet been reduced to uni- 
. , . . , f ormity . In some cities the lunch is provided by 

Admimstra- '' . . . . 

tion is not some voluntary organization acting with the 
uniform approval of the board of education. In other 
cities the whole operation is supported and controlled by 
the educational authorities. Sometimes the lunch is free; 
but ordinarily a small sum is charged for whatever is provided. 
Soup, milk, sandwiches, shredded wheat, fruit, and similar 
simple digestible foods are provided at a cost of one to three 
cents for each article on the bill of fare. 

5. Medical Inspection. While the term " medical 
inspection " is perhaps misleading and is obviously objection- 
Nature and able to those who would emphasize health rather 
purpose than medicine, it has been used so generally and its 
meaning is so well understood to extend beyond the narrow 
idea of medicine that it is perhaps better to use it than to 
attempt to introduce some new term. The meaning of the 
expression is well phrased in the Massachusetts law of 1906, 
in which it is " held to mean the testing of sight and hearing 
of school children and the ' inspection of school children by 
physicians for disease, disabihties, decayed teeth, and other 



The School as a Protective Agency 141 

defects which may reduce efficiency or tend to prevent their 
receiving full benefits of school work." 

The nature of the work as it is generally carried on in- 
volves at least the following : (1) vision and hearing tests ; 
(2) inspection for the detection of communicable 
disease; (3) general physical examination. The (i) tests of 
work of giving vision and hearing tests is quite ^^iop and 
generally given over to teachers. This has come 
about not only at the instance of legislators but also on the 
recommendation of the specialists concerned. The reason 
for this is not merely economy; for it is believed that 
what teachers lack in a technical way is made up for by 
the fact that they are better able than the specialists to 
observe children acting in a natural way. Furthermore, 
when defects are discovered the child is turned over to the 
specialist. In inspection for the detection of communicable 
disease (which is sometimes the only work carried 
on) it is obviously necessary to have the services tion of com- 
of an expert ; although teachers may be trained ™»""cabie 
to be of general service in noting some of the 
symptoms which point to danger. This work, primarily 
protective in its nature, prevents pupils with communi- 
cable diseases from remaining in school, permits their 
return only when danger is past, and deals with those 
who have been exposed to such danger. The list of 
common contagious diseases to which children are most 
susceptible, as given by Dresslar, includes parasitic dis- 
eases of the head, mumps, measles, whooping cough, con- 
tagious eye diseases, chicken pox, scarlet fever, and 
diphtheria. {School Hygiene, page 320.) The third phase of 
the work, physical examination, differs materially , , h " al 
from inspection for the purpose of detecting com- examina- 
municable disease in that its purpose is not so much **°" 
to protect the school and the community as to make it pos- 
sible to provide those remedial measures which will remove 



142 The School as a Social Institution 

defects and assist the pupil in attaining normal physical 
development and consequently enable him to profit to the 
highest degree from the work which the school offers. 
Investigations previously mentioned have shown that a very 
large number of children suffer in a more or less mild manner 
from a variety of physical ills which may easily be removed if 
proper care is given at an early period. 

The administration of medical inspection has undergone 
a decided change since its beginning. At first the work was 
generally under the control of local boards of 
Administra- health acting with the sympathy if not the in- 
cai inspec- " telligent cooperation of the school authorities, 
tionshowsa At the present time the administration of the 
bT taken ° work is almost altogether under the control of 
over by the boards of education. A table printed in the 
authorities Report of the United States Commissioner of Edu- 
cation for 1915 shows that in twenty-six states 
having laws on the subject there are eighteen in which the 
work is administered by the school authorities, two by 
health authorities, one by school or health authorities, one 
by a physician, and four for which no statement is given 
(page 418). 

For the actual administration of a system of medical 
inspection Dresslar gives a list of twelve essentials which 
may be summarized as follows : (1) There should 
Summary of j-,g ^.^ examination of every child upon his entering 
list of essen- school, and a record should be made which should 
tials in the include all pertinent health facts concerning his 

admimstra- ^ ° 

tion of past and present condition. (2) A daily morning 

medical examination should be made of all children 
inspection 

referred to the physician by teacher, nurse, 

parent, or child. This should be followed by the immediate 

exclusion of every dangerous case. (3) All children should 

be examined upon return to school after having been kept 

at home on account of any illness unless they bring a prop- 



The School as a Protective Agency 143 

erly signed certificate of recovery. (4) There should be 
similar treatment of children who reenter school from homes 
where contagious diseases have existed unless properly 
signed certificates from the board of health or from the attend- 
ing physician are presented. (5) There should be a routine 
examination, by the school nurse, of the condition of scalp, 
eyes, ears, teeth, fingernails, nose, and throat ; and a similar 
monthly examination by the school physician. (6) Children 
referred to the school nurse for diagnosis should be examined. 
(7) The medical inspector should immediately notify the 
board of health when contagious diseases are discovered in 
the school ; all children known or suspected to have been 
exposed should be excluded ; and proper measures should be 
taken to disinfect the building and books affected. (8) A 
certain time should be given each morning by the school 
nurse for the treatment of minor ailments and for instruction 
of children in practical hygiene. (9) Matters of school 
sanitation should be directed by the school physician. (10) 
There must be proper equipment for the regular work of 
physician and nurse and also for the treatment of emergency 
cases. (11) The school physician should be responsible to 
the superintendent of schools only, but should have the 
right to appeal to the governing body. Finally (12) there 
must be cooperation with hospitals, dispensaries, dental 
infirmaries, and charitable organizations. (School Hygiene, 
pages 331-333.) 

The growth of medical inspection of schools has been one 
of the most remarkable educational phenomena of the past 
two decades. Beginning in the last few years 
of the nineteenth century, the movement pro- of medical 
grossed very slowly but with increasing momentum . -^^^^^J^^ 
As late as the year 1900 there were in the United phenom- 
States only eleven cities with systems of medical ®°°° 
inspection ; but by the year 1905 there were fifty-five such 
cities; and by 1910, four hundred. According to the 1915 



144 The School as a Social Institution 

Report of the United States Commissioner of Education, out 
of 1466 cities of over four thousand population there were 
750 which reported some form of medical inspection. The 
first state to enact a law requiring medical inspection of 
schools was Massachusetts (1906). Other states have 
followed her example until there are now twenty-six on the 
Hst. 

It is an interesting fact, noted by Small in his article on 
Educational Hygiene in the report mentioned in the preceding 
paragraph, that the growth of medical inspection in schools 
has not been solely dependent upon specific enabling legis- 
lation. In every state which now has medical inspection 
laws the work was carried on prior to the enactment of such 
legislation. Here we find a good example of the progress 
of social evolution in its relation to the crystalhzation of 
ideas and practices into legislative enactments, — the idea 
being well developed before finding a place in the statute 
books. 

The value of medical inspection of schools is best seen 

when it is considered from the social point of view. Without 

_,^ , . such care of the health of children a large part of 
The value of , p» , . . » 

medical the effort which society expends in the work of 

inspection education is almost certainly lost. Children catch 
and spread disease in school and community ; capacity for 
work is decreased ; time is lost. Medical inspection acts 
as one of the most effective measures of protection against 
such evils. The benefit of the work is not confined to the 
school ; for the physician and the nurse are both important 
factors in bringing school and home into close contact. 
Their work is educative in a sense that is wider than their 
immediate activities. Through the emphasis which they 
place upon health the entire community is gradually in- 
fluenced to give more persistent and intelligent care to the 
matter. Finally it may be said that medical inspection serves 
to emphasize a long-neglected truth : the work of the school 



The School as a Protective Agency 145 

is not merely to deal with children as bundles of mental 
capacities, but is to give that intelligent care to their bodies 
which is demanded for the welfare of the State. 

6. Schoolhouse Sanitation. The purpose of school- 
house sanitation is obviously the provision of those external 
conditions which will make it possible to carry 
on the work of education with the greatest possible ^^^^ 
efficiency. Stated in specific terms this means that the pur- 
pose is to see that the best possible arrangements are made 
in regard to such matters as situation, lighting, heating, 
ventilation, disposal of sewage, drainage, and protection 
against fire and panic. Fundamentally the object of this 
work is in no way different from that of medical inspection 
of schools, — to prevent conditions which hinder good work 
and to foster those that will positively tend toward that 
end. 

Although Henry Barnard published a work on School 
Architecture as early as 1848, it can hardly be said that 
sufficient attention has ever been given to the ^^ ^. , 

° The subject 

creation and maintenance of proper sanitary has been 

conditions in school buildings. It is true that neglected 

forty of the states of the Union have enacted laws on the 

subject of sanitation and safety of schools ; but it is not 

likely that anyone would maintain that there is as yet 

sufficient care given to the actual administration of such 

laws. Wliile conditions in some of the poorer and more 

backward communities are such as to be an actual menace 

to the children who attend school, even in some of the 

great centers of wealth and population there still exist 

buildings which are practically as bad. 

While many of the buildings which remain as monuments 

to the lack of intelUgent care on the part of earlier boards 

of education seem to show that schoolhouse ^ . , ,. 

Legislation 

sanitation has not received a proper amount of is of two 
emphasis, legislation among the various states ^p®^ • ~ 



146 The School as a Social Institution 

exhibits a tendency to remedy the earlier neglect. Forty 
states, as already stated, now have laws on the subject. To 
/'T^ rA^^^ be sure, not all are of the same degree of excel- 

(1) giving ' ° 

advisory lence ; but the mere tendency to legislate on the 
heaith°°or*° subject is a hopeful sign. In some cases a central 
education body is given authority to advise in matters of 
° ^^^^ ' building ; in others power is given to approve or 

(2) giving reject plans, state aid depending upon approval, 
real In general it may be said that those laws which 
au onty ^^^ advisory powers or which delegate authority 
without providing penalties for lack of obedience have little 
value beyond a certain tendency to educate the public to 
the idea of better conditions. 

As an example of a weak type of law we may cite that of 
a western state where the statute provides in effect that 
managers of all public places, schools included, 
xampes gj^all remedy sanitary defects called to their 
attention. There are, however, no penalties and there is no 
enforcing authority. (See U. S. Bureau of Education Bulletin, 
1915, No. 21, page 15.) 

In contrast with such a law as the foregoing stands the 
Minnesota re-vised statute of 1913. Here the powers and 
duties of the state superintendent of education are defined in 
such a manner as to include control of the construction of 
school buildings. He is given power to prescribe rules and 
examine all plans and specifications for the erection, enlarge- 
ment, and change of school buildings. All plans and 
specifications must be submitted to him and be approved by 
him before the contract is let. " He shall include in such 
rules those made from time to time by the State board of 
health, relative to sanitary standards for toilets, water 
supply, and disposal of sewage of public-school buildings ; in 
all other respects the authority to make rules for public-school 
buildings shall be vested in the superintendent of education." 
( U. S. Commissioner of Education, Report, 1915, page 415.) 



The School as a Protective Agency 147 

From the study made by William A. Cook (Schoolhouse 
Sanitation, U. S. Bureau of Education Bulletin, 1915, No. 
21) it seems that in the matter of legislative 
progress in the work of securing more sanitary ^^^ om"" 
school buildings the states are passing through a on school- 
process similar to that which was necessary in the ^^^^ ^""" 
evolution of the present systems of state control 
of education. Our history shows that there is almost always 
reluctance in delegating real powers to central authorities in 
matters which have hitherto received little attention or 
which have been solely in charge of local bodies. The 
development of effective legislation on the subject of school- 
house sanitation follows the general rule : that is, to proceed 
from a merely advisory function to one that is prescriptive 
and can be enforced through appropriate penalties. 

Because of the neglect that has generally characterized 

that field, special mention should be made of the work of 

improving the sanitation of rural schools. 

Through the efforts of a joint committee on school sani- 

Health Problems in Education the National Coun- Nation is now 

receiving 

cil of the National Education Association and increased 
of the Council on Health and Public Instruction attention 
of the American Medical Association, assisted by an appro- 
priation from the Elizabeth McCormick Memorial Fund of 
Chicago, an exceedingly valuable pamphlet, entitled 
Minimum Health Requirements for Rural Schools, has been 
prepared and distributed in large numbers. In this pamphlet 
attention is called to the fact that " rural school children are 
less healthy, and are handicapped by more physical defects 
than are the children of the cities, including even the children 
of the slums." Emphasis is placed upon the idea that 
" healthful and attractive rural schools are absolutely 
essential to the physical, mental, social, economic, and 
moral well-being of the children themselves, and to the 
life and welfare of the nation as a whole." The minimum 



148 The School as a Social Institution 

requirements are twelve in number and refer to such matters 
as location and surroundings, architecture, ventilation, and 
heating, lighting, cleanliness, drinking water, furniture, 
toilets, and repair. " Every school should be so attractive 
and well equipped as to minister with some abundance of 
satisfaction to the physical, mental, aesthetic, social, and 
moral well-being of those who provide it, own it, who use it 
and who enjoy it." (The pamphlet is reprinted in full in 
Rapeer's Educational Hygiene, pages 372-379.) 

Summary 

While the school has long been deemed a strong defense 
of the State, it is only within recent years that this idea 
has expanded to include the work of providing definite care 
for the health of pupils. With this expansion of the con- 
ception of the work of the school has appeared also the ideal 
of making the entire educational system of the State perform 
the great social service of promoting public health as well 
as improving the condition of children in attendance. As 
this conception of the school has developed, a great many 
changes have taken place in the character of the work which 
it has attempted. First, physiology was introduced ; but 
because it was taught as formal science it had to be made 
over, thus becoming hygiene. The old course of study, which 
made no provision for anything other than intellectual work, 
has been enriched by the addition of definitely planned 
physical training. Furthermore the desire to insure the 
greatest possible good from school training has led to such 
attention to physical welfare as is to be seen in the provision 
of food for pupils and the maintenance of open-air schools. 
Perhaps the most promising development of recent years is 
the system of health inspection ; since it promises to act as 
a force to unify all the various activities which the school 
devotes to the care of health. Supplementing the work of 
health inspection is the long-delayed movement for adequate 
schoolhouse sanitation. 



The School as a Protective Agency 149 

From the number and strength of these various forms of 
school health work, it seems evident that there is a growing 
reaUzation of the importance of the social service which the 
school can render as a protective institution. In the recent 
awakening to the value of health as a national asset of greatest 
and most fundamental importance, the school is clearly 
sharing, both as recipient of the vitahzing influence and as 
transmitter of the benefits received. 



BIBLIOGRAPHY 

American School Hygiene Association, Proceedings (of various 

congresses). 
Armstrong, D. B., Social Aspects of School Hygiene. Journal of 

N. E. A., I: 751. 
Ayres, L. p. and May, Health Work in the Public Schools. 
Burks, F. W. and J. D., Health and the School. 
Cook, W. A., Schoolhouse Sanitation. U. S. Bureau of Education 

Bulletin, 1915, No. 21. 
Cornell, W. S., Health and Medical Inspection of School Children. 
CuBBERLEY, E. P., School Administration. Chapter XX. 
Dresslar, F. B., School Hygiene. 

GuLicK, L. H. and Ayres, L. P., Medical Inspection of Schools. 
Heck, W. H., Health of School Children. U. S. Bureau of Education 

Bulletins, 1915, Nos. 4 and 50. 
HoAG, E. B., and Terman, L. M., Health Work in Schools. 
Johnston, C. H., The Modern High School. Chapter XXVIII, 

The Hygiene of the High School. 
Monroe, Paul, Cyclopedia of Education, IV : 317. 
Monroe, Paul, Principles of Secondary Education. Chapter XVIII, 

Hygiene and Physical Education. 
Rapeer, L. W., Editor, Educational Hygiene. 
Strayer, G. D., The Teaching Process. Chapter XIII, Physical 

Welfare of Children. 
Terman, L. M., The Hygiene of the School Child. 
U. S. Commissioner of Education, Report for 1915, Chapter XVII. 
Upton, Siegried Maia Hansen, Open Air Schools. Teachers 

College Record, May, 1914. 
Wood, T. S., Health and Education. (Ninth Yearbook of the Na- 
tional Society for the Study of Education, Part I.) 



CHAPTER VI 

THE SCHOOL AS A SELECTIVE AGENCY: RETARDATION, 
ELIMINATION, AND ACCELERATION 



In a sense the school has always aided a few of its students to 
find their occupations in the world. The function was crudely 
though certainly exercised through the selective standards of tradi- 
tional school life. These selective standards favored those of 
station and intellect to enter professional life. . . . The school's 
selection, instruction, and protection, whether exercised con- 
sciously or unconsciously, favored the talented few. These reached 
the end of the college course to find themselves at the threshold of 
professional life, whither they had been guided from the beginning. — 
Henry Suzzallo, Introduction to Meyer ^loom&eld' sYouth, School, 
and Vocation. 



When we speak of the school as a selective agency we 
mean that it acts as a huge sifting machine in such a manner 
as to choose for higher educational preferment 
ofthescho^oi ^hose who are adapted to its character. Under 
makes it an the old aristocratic ideal of education the school 
S^^ection sifted out a certain few, who were by that process 
of selection chosen to go forward and carry on 
the work of leadership in the professions, in the Church, and 
to a certain extent in politics ; while those who were elim- 
inated from the school or who were never attracted within 
its walls were as definitely selected for the workaday tasks 
of the world. Even with our dominant democratic ideals 
of life and education, the school still acts as a selective 
agency. What it has to offer appeals to a certain type 

150 



The School as a Selective Agency 151 

more than to another. The studies prescribed are within 
the capacities of some, beyond the abihty of others. 

At every step along the road from kindergarten to uni- 
versity there are some who fall behind or drop from the 
ranks; there are also a very few who forge ahead of the 
others. In this way the school performs its mechanical 
and heartless work of selection. In the process there is 
nothing of premeditated social malice, it is true ; nor is there 
as yet any wisely considered plan for making the selection 
meet the needs of the individual or of society. 

The work of this chapter is a mere consideration of this 
rather blind process of selection, three related ideas being 
treated : retardation, elimination, and accelera- 
tion. By retardation is meant merely falling seen in re- 
behind the normal rate of progress in school as tafdation, 
marked by the division of the work into years or and accel- ' 
grades, the evidence of retardation being over-age. oration of 
If a child is in the second grade at the age of ten he 
is said to be retarded. Such a basis of computation makes 
no allowance for pupils who have entered school at an age 
more advanced than that which is considered normal, 
that is between six and eight years ; while a theoretically 
accurate treatment of retardation would concern itself 
with those pupils only who have to spend more than the 
regularly prescribed time in any grade. By elimination is 
meant dropping out of school, only elementary and second- 
ary grades being considered as a rule. Acceleration is just 
the opposite of retardation and means the completion of 
work in less than the regularly prescribed time, or more ac- 
curately, it means being in any grade at an age lower than 
that which is considered normal. 

These three considerations, retardation, elimination, and 
acceleration, indicate the manner in which the school per- 
forms its work of mechanical selection. 



152 The School as a Social Institution 



Retardation 

The amount of retardation varies from eight or ten per 
cent in some cities to seventy per cent in others. According 
to Strayer the percentage of pupils retarded 
of retarda- one year in 133 cities of more than 25,000 popu- 
tion is very lation is twenty for boys and eighteen for girls. 
In the same cities boys and girls showing two 
years of retardation are ten and nine per cent respectively ; 
showing three years of retardation, five and three per cent 
respectively ; showing four or more years of retardation, two 
and one per cent respectively. The total percentages are 
thirty-eight for boys and thirty-two for girls. In 186 cities 
of less than 25,000 population the figures are approximately 
the same. One singularly noteworthy fact shown by these 
figures is that the retardation of boys is uniformly higher 
than that of girls, whether we consider large cities or small 
and whether the amount of retardation is one year or any 
other number. 

According to the Report of the United States Commissioner 

of Education for the year 1915, the amount of retardation 

' in the smaller cities is growing less. " Though 
A decrease c_. u u 

is indicated HO data have been compiled showing to what 
by recent extent retardation has been diminished, prac- 
tically every superintendent reporting says that 
there is now a smaller percentage of over-age children in 
the grades than there was several years ago." (Page 74.) 

A study by Dr. Louis Blan shows that the amount of 
retardation varies in the different grades. He finds that 
Retardation ^^ pupils in the eighth grade a larger number 
varies by have repeated the work of the fifth grade than 
^^ ®^ of the fourth, more have repeated the sixth than 

the fifth, more the seventh than the sixth, but fewer the eighth 
than the seventh. 

The cost of retardation as measured in terms of money 



The School as a Selective Agency 153 

is a matter of considerable concern, especially in the large 
cities. In a study of fifty-five cities Ayres ^j^^ ^^^^ ^^ 
computed the cost of the retarded as 15.4 per the state is 
cent of the total amount for all pupils. Strayer's ^^** 
figures, showing that more than a third of the pupils in cities 
are retarded, suggest that a proportionate amount of money 
is spent in educating these children who are behind the 
normal in their attainments. To argue that the money 
spent in providing for these repeaters is lost is of course 
quite wrong, since the funds would have to be appropriated 
for them wherever they were in the grades. It does seem 
manifestly wasteful, however, to pay for the training of a 
child in a certain grade this year and then pay again for 
the same training next year, especially in the upper grades. 
Concerning this, however, Ayres says, " Even in the upper 
grades we cannot consider the money spent on doing again 
the work already done as entirely wasted, for we cannot 
be sure that such repetition is wholly ineffective from an 
educational standpoint. But we may feel sure that more is 
lost than gained by the process of repeating. If it is in the 
nature of the child to be spurred on by failure to renewed 
effort, we may be very certain that the same child would 
be more effectively influenced by success. The effect of 
retardation is only slight in making school expenditures 
greater, but potent in making their effectiveness painfully 
less." {Laggards in Our Schools, page 98.) 

A question of large importance which must be asked in 
connection with this discussion is. What are the causes? 
It is evident that retardation means poor ad- what are 
justment of schoolwork to pupils; consequently ^^ causes? 
it is very important that society should know whether 
the fault lies in the school, in the character of the pupils, 
or in social conditions outside the school. 

The first explanation that occurs to one is that the cur- 
riculum is not well adapted to the capacities of the children 



154 The School as a Social Institution 

as they proceed from grade to grade. The force of this 
suggestion is increased by the fact that while the amount 
of retardation is large, acceleration is comparatively rare. 
This situation seems to mean that the curriculum is not 
adapted to the capacities of the pupil of moderate or aver- 
age ability. However, the fault may not lie so much in the 
curriculum as in the methods of teaching or in the degree of 
excellence that is expected of children. The general com- 
plaint that children know too little, while of no real scientific 
value in forming a correct judgment, leads to the belief that 
retardation is hardly to be explained by excessively high 
standards of accomplishment in the subject matter pre- 
scribed. 

Other causes resulting in retardation are irregularity of 
attendance, ill health whether affecting attendance or not, 
moving from one district to another, lack of mental capacity, 
and unfavorable home conditions. (The last in the fore- 
going list has already been mentioned in the discussion of 
the influence of home conditions upon the school in Chap- 
ter III.) 

If we assume that retardation is an evil, that it is an 
indication ot poor adjustment of the school to its task, 
The evils *^^* ^* ^® ^^® beginning of a blind and wasteful 
can be process of selection, we are naturally led to in- 

reme le quire into the remedies which have been proposed. 

It seems very obvious that in all retardation which is due 
to the fact that the curriculum is too difficult for the pupils 
(i) by better ^^^ whom it is intended, grade by grade, the evil 
adaptation can be remedied by making the work easier, either 
matter to the ^^ amount or in quality prescribed. In spite of 
capacities the strong psychological influences at work during 

pup s , ^j^g nineteenth century and the increasing empha- 
sis placed upon the doctrine that the work of school should 
be adapted to the capacities of the pupils, the curricula of 
the elementary and high schools have grown up without 



The School as a Selective Agency 155 

adequate investigation of the varying degrees of difficulty 
of subject matter and the actual capacity of pupils to ac- 
complish the work required. The question has generally 
been, What should children be required to study? rather 
than, What can they actually accomplish ? Consequently 
we have courses of study the real difficulty of which is not 
properly known either in regard to its respective parts or in 
regard to the aggregate. Obviously before we can say that 
the evils of retardation can be remedied by making the 
course of study shorter or easier, it will be necessary to col- 
lect a large amount of material bearing upon the questions 
which have just been stated. Such a problem is not to be 
solved offhand. 

The course of study has grown by a gradual process of 
accretion, new studies having been added from time to 
time according to social demands upon the school ; but the 
elimination or remaking of courses of study ought to be 
brought about in a more scientific manner. Due consid- 
eration must indeed be given the social demand for the teach- 
ing of reading, writing, arithmetic, spelling, composition, 
geography, nature study, history and civics, physiology and 
hygiene, sewing, cooking, and hand work in the elementary 
school ; but the amount of material presented in any course 
and the total amount required in all courses must ultimately 
be settled upon the basis of the ability of normal children 
to accomplish certain results within given time limits. 
More attention must be paid to what children can actually 
do and less to what legislators, boards of education, superin- 
tendents, and teachers think they ought to do. 

It seems probable that in the course of the investigations 
and adjustments necessary to a better adaptation of the 
curriculum to the ability of pupils there will be a further use 
of a plan already in operation, that of eliminating dead ma- 
terial in order to make room for that which is more truly 
essential. 



156 The School as a Social Institution 

In addition to the better selection and arrangement of the 
material of the course of study, it may be possible to im- 

(2) by im- P^o^e the methods of teaching and managing 
provement classes to such an extent that the dangers of re- 
of Caching tardation will be largely avoided. Especially 
and admin- in the larger cities, but also in many smaller 
istration ; places, there has grown up the custom of herding 
children together in large numbers, — the individual teacher 
having so many pupils that the retardation of a large 
number is to be expected if promotion is based upon 
actual accomplishment of the required work. Where a 
class is too large it is impossible for the teacher to give 
very much individual attention to those children who, 
while falling behind in their work, might be brought up 
to the necessary standard if they could receive some special 
care. 

Various plans have been evolved for the application of 
the idea of individual attention to pupils, such as the Ba- 
tavia plan, the group system, and after-school work for de- 
linquent pupils. It is often if not always found that 
pupils who are on the border line of failure may be rescued 
when it is possible for the teacher to single them out and 
devote to them an adequate amount of instruction and 
supervision. That is to say, the possibility of retardation 
decreases in general as the opportunity for individual care 
increases. 

Where retardation is caused by irregular attendance or 
by lack of physical strength it is obvious that the school 

(3) by mis- ^^^ ^^ direct remedy. The enforcement of 
ceiianeous compulsory attendance laws and emphasis upon 
™®^°^ care of health are attempts of the State and the 
school to remove two of the causes of retardation. Where 
the evil is due purely to lack of mental capacity or to such 
a factor as moving from district to district, it is clear that the 
school can have no means of providing a remedy. 



The School as a Selective Agency 157 

In this connection a certain false remedy should be men- 
tioned : the promotion of pupils even though they have 
not done satisfactory work. While it is often 
true that a pupil may with profit to himself and of poorly 
the class be promoted to a higher grade without prepared 
having accomplished the work of the grade to the evil but 
which he has been assigned, the promotion of ^°^^ ^°\ 
masses of children who have really failed in a 
certain grade is but to hide the symptom and not to remove 
the disease. Where superintendents and principals are in- 
sistent that retardation be decreased if not entirely elimi- 
nated and where the rating of teachers depends upon the 
proportion of pupils promoted, there is a very strong temp- 
tation to neglect the doctrine of thoroughness for the sake 
of showing satisfactory figures. No condemnation can be 
too strong for such a practice. It deprives the pupils of a 
due sense of responsibility ; it places the shiftless upon the 
same footing as the industrious ; it glosses over the very 
defect which it pretends to remove. 

Summing up the discussion of retardation we see that it is 
the result of poor adjustment of our educational machinpry 
to the needs and capacities of our pupils. We 
have a machine which is apparently designed 
to carry all pupils along at a uniform rate ; but such an ac- 
comphshment is impossible under the actual conditions of 
difference in abilities, irregularity of attendance, bad home 
conditions, overcrowding of classes, imperfect curriculum, 
and unsatisfactory methods. Thus through the process of 
retardation the school begins its process of selection, a 
process which is completed in elimination. Retardation 
begins to mark those who for some reason or other may not 
hope to receive the stamp of approval of the school system. 
EHmination ends the process of separating the elect from the 
rejected. 



158 The School as a Social Institution 



Elimination 

Briefly stated, the facts concerning elimination are that 
no type of school holds its pupils until the end of the course, 
_,. . . whether it be elementary or secondary school 
occurs in all or college ; that practically all pupils are held 
types of until the end of the fifth school year, after which 
there is a rapid falhng off, less than half surviving 
at the end of the elementary school course ; that only about 
one pupil in ten perseveres to the end of the high school 
course. Ayres found that " so far as leaving school is con- 
cerned, there is less of a gap between the final elementary 
grade and the first year of the high school than there is be- 
tween the last two years of the grammar course or the first 
two high school grades." (Laggards in Our Schools, page 
65.) 

The amount of elimination varies from city to city ; and 
not all investigators agree in regard to the amount that exists. 
The amount However, it is clear that various forces at work 
varies within the school and without act as a composite 

agency of selection by means of which hardly half the 
children who enter school are chosen as fit to receive second- 
ary education, and hardly more than a tenth or perhaps an 
eighth as fit to pursue such fines of endeavor as are dependent 
upon the completion of the high school course. It should be 
plainly understood, however, that the school is not the only 
agency responsible for this condition. 

The causes of elimination are very difficult to trace on 
account of the fact that when a pupil leaves school his 
„, motives and those of his parents are not always 

The causes . . . . 

are various evident. In a study of five cities, Ayres classified 
and hard to ^jjg various causes of elimination under six heads : 

trace 

work, ill health, removal, change to private 
schools, lack of success, and miscellaneous reasons. Ac- 
cording to the figures available for these five cities (Cam- 



The School as a Selective Agency 159 

bridge, Mass., Bay City, Mich., Decatur, 111., Medford, 
Mass., and Springfield, Ohio) about a third of the pupils 
who leave high school do so with " work " as a reason ; 
nearly a fourth leave on account of ill health, either of the 
pupils themselves or in their families ; about a fifth of the 
removals are ascribed to removal or transfer to private 
schools ; while only about a twentieth of the cases are said 
to be due to lack of success. Somewhat similar figures are 
given for six cities (the same as before with the addition of 
Johnstown, Pa.) with respect to the elementary school. In 
the opinion of Ayres, however, an opinion which would 
probably be justified if it were possible to know the hidden 
springs of conduct, the lack of success in school studies is 
probably the greatest single factor which causes pupils to 
drop out of school. 

If this supposition is true it means that the work of the 
school is not well adapted to the capacities of the pupils, or 
that it is not allied to their needs closely enough to cause 
them to put forth the amount of energy necessary to succeed. 
In either case we have a serious problem in adjustment. 

On account of the large number of pupils of foreign 
parentage, it seems probable that we may find here a large 
factor in the elimination of pupils in those centers There 
in which the foreign population is large. From seems to be 

1 1 • • some con- 

the study made by Ayres it seems that this is nection 

true, especially in the upper grades and in the between 

high school. Although the language difficulty seems to be 

a negligible factor in elimination, foreign parentage seems 

to be a very common accompaniment. Chil- 

, p e • 1 j» 1 • 1 elimination 

dren oi foreign parentage are lound in large an^ 
numbers in the lower grades, but the proper- d) foreign 
tion diminishes steadily in the upper grades p"®°*^®' 
and the high school. It should be said, however, that a study 
of different cities with various proportions of foreign popu- 
lation shows that it is not possible to trace a very close 



160 The School as a Social Institution 

connection between elimination and percentage of foreign 
population. In other words, this means that " there is 
no evidence that these problems are most serious in those 
cities having the largest foreign populations." (Ayres, oy. 
cit., page 115.) It is also well to note that there is a larger 
percentage of illiterates among native whites of native parent- 
age than among native whites of foreign parentage. 

What does the sex of pupils have to do with ehmination ? 
The answer to this question is perhaps to be found in the 
(2) sex of following facts. Although the number of males 
pupils in i\^Q total population is slightly in excess of the 

number of females and the percentage of boys in the lower 
grades is considerably larger than that of girls, the conditions 
in the upper grades and the high school are just the reverse. 
This means that boys are more retarded than girls and 
that they are eliminated more rapidly. In high schools the 
total number of boys entering is only about four j&fths of 
the number of girls ; but the number of girls remaining to 
the end of the course is thirty-one per cent of those entering, 
while but twenty-five per cent of the boys remain. Evi- 
dently our schools are better suited to the needs and capacities 
of girls than of boys ; or there are outside the school various 
social and individual factors that exercise their influence 
more strongly upon boys than upon girls in such a way as 
to lead from the school. 

There may seem to be a very evident connection between 
the feminization of the teaching force and the facts stated 
in the foregoing paragraph. Would, then, an 
^achers° appreciable increase in the number of men 
does not teachers in high school have a noticeable influ- 
factor*° ^^^® ^^ holding boys throughout the course? 
Thorndike has attempted to answer this question 
by making a study of coeducational high schools in which 
there has been such a change in the teaching staff. He 
states that " The general drift of the relation is such that it 



The School as a Selective Agency 161 

may be expressed as follows : — The central tendency is to 
have three out of eight teachers men and to have 142 girls 
for every 100 boys enrolled. For 33|^ per cent increase 
in the proportion of male teachers, one finds an increase of 
less than 1 per cent in the proportion of male students ; for 
66f per cent increase in the former proportion one finds 
an increase of 2 per cent in the latter ; and for an increase 
of 100 per cent in the former an increase of 4 or 5 per cent 
in the latter. Where the former proportion is halved the 
proportion of male students drops only about 1 per cent 
and where it is reduced to a third, the drop is less than 2 
per cent." (Strayer and Thorndike, Educational Adminis- 
tration, page 136.) Further he says, " Evidently the influence 
of the proportion of male teachers upon the proportion of 
male students, even when combined with whatever unrea- 
soning tendency there is for school boards to provide a larger 
share of men teachers when the enrollment consists largely 
of boys and with the tendency of certain communities to 
look with disfavor on the feminization of both the teaching 
profession and the school population, is very sHght." (Page 
136.) The same general conditions obtain with respect to 
the proportion of male teachers and the relative number 
of male graduates. The facts are " adequate to prove that 
in the medium-sized pubhc high schools of the country the 
proportion of boys who go to or stay through high school is 
almost or wholly irrespective of the percentage of men on the 
staff of the school." 

The factor which seems to have greatest connection with 
elimination is age. When a certain Hmit is reached it 
becomes practically impossible for the elementary . ^ j^ jj^_ 
school to hold children longer. The same is portantin 
true of the high school. The compulsory at- «"°^°*«°° 
tendance law, wherever it is enforced, establishes a certain 
level ; but regardless of the amount of retardation of pupils 
who have not finished the elementary school course when 



162 The School as a Social Institution 

the limit of compulsory attendance is reached, it seems impos- 
sible for the school to hold them until the end of the course. 
As age rather than attainment is generally set up as the 
standard of the compulsory attendance law, it is not strange 
that children drop out of school when the legal requirement 
is satisfied, all other factors in elimination being taken into 
consideration also. 

The relation between home conditions and elimination 
Home is very important; but as it has already been 

conditions discussed in the study of the influence of the 
powerful home upon the school (Chapter III), it need 
factor only be mentioned here. 

The remedies proposed for the disease of elimination range 
all the way from laws compelhng attendance to the es- 
tabhshment of new kinds of schools. Compul- 
Proposed gory attendance commends itself as a very simple 
are (i) solution of the difficulty. All that seems to be 

enactment necessary is that the State decide the limit beyond 
forcementof which elimination makes no great difference to 
compulsory general welfare and then make and enforce the 
laws; lo-ws necessary to keep children in school until that 

age is reached. In such a solution, however, an 
important consideration is overlooked : the law may com- 
pel a physical attendance, but the real work of education 
demands the presence of the whole pupil. If education 
were, like vaccination, a process which can be carried on 
even without the cooperation of the subject of the operation, 
compulsory attendance would be an end of the matter. 
But even with every child in school actual intellectual 
elimination will still take place unless the materials and 
methods of the school are adapted to the capacities, interests, 
and needs of the pupils. 

A second type of remedy then is to make the school so 
interesting and attractive that the pupils will be held by a 
force that is really more powerful than the laws of the 



The School as a Selective Agency 163 

State, the law of interest. It is evident that this remedy- 
does not mean making the school attractive and interesting 
in the sense of being entertaining, but rather in 
the sense of being of real worth. Within recent tion of the 
years we have seen added to the curriculum of doctrine of 

interest; 

elementary and secondary schools a great variety 
of studies or forms of work which promised to appeal to 
pupils as being of so great actual worth that staying in 
school seemed more sensible than leaving to find a job. 
Whatever other purposes may be behind the introduction of 
vocational and pre-vocational courses, there is almost al- 
ways present the hope that they will help in the solution of 
the evil of ehmination. Changes in the curriculum are, to 
a certain extent, paralleled by changes in method, generally 
in such a way as to make an appeal to that type of pupil 
whose elimination is supposed to be due in part at least to 
the lack of objective and concrete methods of instruction. 

In addition to the foregoing remedies we find that cer- 
tain changes in the structure of the school system are con- 
nected with the solution of the problem of elim- and (3) 
ination. It is the hope of the advocates of the changes in 
junior high school, an institution composed of ture of the 
grades seven, eight, and nine (or sometimes school sys- 
grades seven and eight only), that building the by the junior 
high school course upon the work of the first six ^^h school, 
years of the elementary school will help in decreasing the 
very great amount of elimination which occurs in the upper 
grades of the elementary school, between elementary school 
and high school, and in the first year of the latter, and that 
such an arrangement may also assist in holding pupils for 
the entire high school course. It must not be understood 
that the junior high school is a mere regrouping of classes. 
Reorganization also includes enrichment and differentiation 
of courses. Thus, the lines of work are not merely the 
academic, but also the commercial, the industrial, and the 



164 The School as a Social Institution 

domestic. The junior high school movement is too young 
to make it possible to judge its effects upon retardation and 
elimination. We have at present only the hope that it will 
be successful in decreasing these evils. 

Another plan of school organization which has a bearing 
upon the problem of elimination is the work-study-play 
and the system, commonly called the Gary Plan, intro- 
Gary Plan duced by Superintendent William Wirt into the 
schools of Gary, Indiana, and adapted to the needs of 
various other cities within the past few years. The bearing 
of this plan upon the whole problem of the school as a se- 
lective agency and upon the immediate problems of re- 
tardation and elimination is seen in the fact that the pupil 
is given opportunity to try variolas kinds of work and so 
gain an increased ability to select for himself rather than be 
the victim df a blind process which offers him only academic 
training as a test of his tastes and abilities. 

In concluding this discussion of eUmination we may say 
that we find in the figures showing how well the schools 
hold pupils a kind of quantitative measure of 
is rSnd°of success, — not so much of the school as of the 
negative entire social organization from the educational 
^ccess^° point of view. That pupils leave before the 
proper time may or may not be the fault of the 
school. That they do so does undoubtedly reveal an un- 
fortunate social condition. The very plain fact revealed 
by the figures of ehmination is that society has not yet 
created an adequate educational system. The most ob- 
vious suggestion for remed3dng the evil is to make the school 
an instrument which will serve the needs of all classes of 
children, rather than a majority or of a few. If it be deemed 
desirable to give schoohng to all children to the age of four- 
teen or sixteen or eighteen, it will be necessary to continue 
the modification of the old purely intellectual course of 
study and provide forms of activity which are adapted to 



The School as a Selective Agency 165 

the needs, interests, and capacities of those pupils who very 
evidently cannot be held by the old curriculum. Further- 
more we must modify our system of dealing with children 
in the mass and devise methods by which it will be possible 
to give more of that individual attention which characterized 
all schools until the beginning of the nineteenth century. 

Acceleration 

From all that has been said in the preceding paragraphs it 
might seem that there are only two possibilities for the 
pupil : either to advance regularly with his class . 

A.cc6l6r&.tioii 

or to fall behind. There is a third possibility, that is less fre- 
of advancing more rapidly than the rate set by the i"®*^* *^.^ 
class divisions. If the course of study is graded 
according to the abihty of the median student it might seem 
that there should be as many cases of acceleration as of retar- 
dation ; but this is not the case. The amount of acceleration is 
comparatively slight. According to Strayer's table (Monroe, 
Cyclopedia of Education, V: 170), the percentage of pupils 
under age in 133 cities of 25,000 and over is four for both boys 
and girls, for 186 cities of less than 25,000 the percentage is 
four for boys and five for girls. Comparison with the figures 
for retardation shows that the number of the accelerated is 
only a httle more than ten per cent of that of the retarded. 
The Report of the United States Commissioner of Education for 
1915 shows that as there is a decrease in retardation there is a 
corresponding increase in the amount of acceleration. 

Aside from the fact that the course of study may be too 
difficult for the median pupil to cover in less than the stand- 
ard time, the chief reason for lack of acceleration 
has been the inflexibility of the system of grading organiza- 
or dividing into classes. Promotions have rarely *^°° '^^ *^® 
been made at any time other than the end of the makes 
year or term. The more capable pupils have acceleration 
been held back in the ranks of the average and 



166 The School as a Social Institution 

the dull. The distance from the beginning of one grade 
to the beginning of the next has been so great that there 
has been Uttle possibility of going across it in any other 
way than leisurely proceeding with the whole class. 

The evil of this situation has long been felt by teachers. 
The capable pupil is placed in a situation where he is not 
This is a compelled to exert himself to accomplish all that 
serious evU jg required of him. Naturally he falls into 
habits of indolence and mischief. His lack of adjustment 
to his class makes him a source of trouble to the teacher 
and an annoyance to the rest of the class. His ability is 
his own undoing. 

Evidently the school as a sifting apparatus needs to be 
improved in such a way as to make it possible for the ca- 
pable to advance according to their ability. It is probably 
true that one of the hidden reasons for elimination is the 
failure of the school to give the bright pupils suitable 
opportunity to make the most of their ability. Such 
a condition merely emphasizes the blindness of the pres- 
ent work of the school as a selective agency; since there 
seems to be a tendency to eliminate the weak and the 
strong while placing the seal of approval upon the medi- 
ocre. 

In order to make it possible for the more capable pupil 
to advance from grade to grade more rapidly than the or- 
A more flex- *^i^^^y child, it is necessary to have a more flexible 
ibie system system than now exists. From annual to semi- 
is nee e annual promotion is a step in this direction. An 
ideal condition will be attained in this particular when it is 
possible to have promotion at any time. Or if it does not 
seem desirable to have the brighter pupils advance from grade 
to grade more rapidly, thus coming into groups of older 
children, it is necessary that special attention be given in 
order that these pupils of greater ability may have plenty 
of work to occupy them profitably. 



The School as a Selective Agency 167 

The social significance of either arrangement is apparent. 
The school becomes an institution so well adapted to the 
needs of the capable that they receive the maximum amount 
of training in the time which they devote to school. Fur- 
thermore it is possible to avoid the danger of years of care- 
lessness, indolence, and indifference, the natural outcome 
of conditions which are forever demanding too little of the 
pupil. Perhaps there is in all this a possible means of avoid- 
ing the democratic fallacy of grading all to the level of the 
mediocre. 

The Persistent Problem 

For ages the school has been a selective force in society, 
choosing a certain number of the population and sending 
them along the road leading to various kinds of xhe school 
preferment. Even in our schools, which are sup- ^^^ hitherto 
posed to represent the democratic ideal in edu- instrument 
cation, the process of selection continues, more °* selection 
blindly, if possible, than ever. To one group of children 
the school says, " You are fit." These pass on into the 
higher grades and higher schools, blest with the opportu- 
nity to make such advancement as comes through formal 
education. By the same process the school virtually says 
to others, " You are unfit." Thus selected to be the poorly 
trained, these go their ways into various levels of activity, 
practically cut off from hope of advancement except through 
extraordinary effort or talent. 

If this process of selection actually sifted out only those 
who are unable to profit by further training of any kind which 
the school can give them, the situation would not be so bad. 
But the conditions are otherwise. A bhnd sort of selection 
is taking place, which cannot see abihty as readily as it suc- 
ceeds in discovering the lack of it. 

The problem, then, is to make of our system of schools 
such an instrument as will make selection more rational, an 



168 The School as a Social Institution 

instrument which will give opportunity for all kinds of 
valuable talent to be discovered and utilized. In addition 
to this there is the related problem of providing 
ent problem guidance into the most suitable kinds of life 
is that of work. The first problem is in reality that of 
adjustment making the school so broad in its scope that 
with the selection by mere elimination shall cease: the 

ends of sc— 

lection and second is that of selecting and using an increasing 
guidance in amount of material which has the power of reveal- 

view 

ing tastes, abilities, and tendencies in such a way 
as to suggest further development in suitable directions. 
The latter includes the problem of vocational guidance, 
which is to be taken up in the next chapter. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Abbott, Edith, and Breckenridge, Sophonisba P., Truancy and 

Non-attendance in the Chicago Schools. 
Ayres, L. p.. Laggards in Our Schools, A Study of Retardation and 

Elimination in City Systems. 
Bachman, F. p.. Report upon Promotion, Non-promotion, and Part 

Time. New York City School Inquiry. 1911-1912. 
Blan, Louis P., Special Study of the Incidence of Retardation. 
BosTwiCK, A. E., Selective Education. Educational Review, 

XXXIV : 365-373. Special reference to the library. 
Cubberley, E. p., Public School Administration. Chapter XVIII. 
Keyes, Charles H., Progress through the Grades of City Schools, A 

Study of Acceleration and Arrest. 
Monroe, Paul, Cyclopedia of Education. Vol. V. Article on 

Retardation of Pupils, by Strayer. 
Strayer, G. D., Age and Grade Census of Schools and Colleges, A 

Study of Retardation and Elimination. U. S. Bureau of 

Education Bulletin, 1911, No. 5. 
Thorndike, E. L., Elimination of Pupils from School. U. S. 

Bureau of Education Bulletin, 1911, No. 4. 
Van Denburg, J. K., Causes of Elimination of Students in Public 

Secondary Schools of New York City. 



CHAPTER VII 
THE SCHOOL AS A GXnDING INSTITUTION 



The vocational-guidance movement belongs to those efforts of 
our time making for the enhancement of individual and social life. 
Community of action has become more easy ; social insight and the 
will to serve have increased. The movement for husbanding the 
serving powers of youth is a practical expression of the deeper 
motives underlying the conservation projects of our day. — Meyer 
Bloomfield, Youth, School, and Vocation, page 171. 



In the preceding chapter the point of view throughout was 
chiefly negative, the school being considered as an institu- 
tion which sifts out those not suited to the kind 
of work which it has to offer. In this chapter Gmdance is 

^ here consid- 

our point of view changes ; and the school is to ered as a 

be considered as an institution which is making positive 

° process 

beginnings in the positive guidance of young 
people who are in its charge. The passive process of se- 
lection may serve as a background for the rational work of 
guidance ; but in the present discussion we shall be con- 
cerned with an active process, quite in contrast with the 
laissez-faire condition represented by the bhnd selective 
work of retardation, eUmination, and acceleration. 

Definition of Vocational Guidance 

The meaning of the term, "vocational guidance," is not 
always easy to discover. In some discussions of the topic 
it seems to mean merely finding jobs for young people 

169 



170 The School as a Social Institution 

who are leaving school for one reason or another. In quite 
Vocational a different sense it is considered as having 
guidance little to do with the immediate securing of a 
means find- place, while having much to do with the process 
ing jobs, Qf enabling the child and his parents to discover 
sometimes his interests, desires, and abilities. In the one 
discovering Q^ise the question is. What work is available? 

interests 

and capa- In the other it is, What talent has the child 

bilities and what are his interests? The former reveals 

the point of view of the employer ; the latter that of the 

educator. 

When the two views are stated side by side it seems quite 

obvious that the real meaning of vocational guidance must 

_ ,^ be found in a combination of all that is valid in 

Both mean- 
ings should each. In a negative way, then, this means that 

•'^"d^fi^^ vocational guidance is not merely finding jobs 

tionofthe for young people, that the school or the voca- 

*®"" tional guidance bureau is not to be merely an 

employment agency. It means also that the process is 

something more than mere psychological analysis of the 

pupil's traits of character, more than a discovery of his 

interests and ambitions. 

" In brief, vocational guidance should be an educational plan suf- 
ficiently elastic and flexible to afford opportunity to school children 
to find themselves in terms of their vocational aptitudes. It should 
seek to devise means for securing broad information regarding 
numerous groups of industries, together with the underlying 
processes available for children, and to ascertain, in so far as may 
be possible, the aptitudes and characteristics of school children with 
a view to giving them suggestions how to develop their innate 
powers. In addition it should offer advice as to places wherein 
educational advantages may be secured in order to foster the types 
of training best adapted to the needs of individual children." 
(Report of Committee on Vocational Guidance, New York City Board 
of Education, April 8, 1914.) 



The School as a Guiding Institution 171 

The Necessity of Guidance 

The need for vocational guidance is suggested in the con- 
ditions revealed in the preceding chapter, in which it was 
shown that the majority of children leave school 
without having completed even the work of the P^fsentcon- 

. .... ditions em- 

eight grades. The significance of elimination is phasize the 

shown even more clearly in such studies as have ?®®*^ .°* ^^" 

•^ ing wise 

been made to discover what kinds of work are guidance to 

taken up by these children who drop out of our yo""8 
f -' i' people 

schools. Not only is much of the work poorly 

paid, but there is also comparatively Uttle opportunity for 

much advancement, especially for those whose schooling 

is shght. Too many of the seeming opportunities lead only 

into " bhnd alleys." 

In a study of more than a hundred thousand boys and 

girls of fourteen to eighteen years of age, the Permanent' 

Census Bureau of New York City found that „ „ , 

'' New York 

approximately one third of all the girls were City as an 
engaged in housework, about five per cent were ^"stration 
errand or office girls, about six per cent were packers and 
wrappers, about four per cent were saleswomen, between one 
and two per cent were telephone operators, fewer than five 
per cent were stenographers and typists, about two per cent 
were bookkeepers, about five per cent were dressmakers 
and seamstresses. This investigation also showed that of 
the boys more than one third were errand or office boys or 
helpers, almost one seventh were clerks, about two per cent 
were salesmen, almost four per cent were wagon boys or 
drivers, not quite two per cent were machine operators, 
about one half or one per cent were respectively telephone 
operators, outer clothing workers, and paper box makers. 

From this investigation it seems clear that in the field 
studied if not everywhere those kinds of work which de- 
mand little skill and offer slight opportunity for advance- 



172 The School as a Social Institution 

ment attract by far the greater number of boys and girls ; 
Most young while those kinds which demand skill and offer 
workers are advancement to the ambitious attract or employ 
places which relatively few. The report states that "it is 
demand plainly evident that with a few notable exceptions 

utile skiU ^ ,. , , ,. ,. ^ 

and offer HO highly remunerative occupations are repre- 
uttie oppor- sented and very few indeed which would provide 
advance- a competence in the future or the skill or experi- 
^^°^ ence that make the taking up of more skilled 

work natural or easy." {Minutes of New York City Board 
of Education, 1914, page 861.) 

It may be true that the thousands of young people who 
enter the " blind alley " occupations have as much guidance 
„ . . as they can use to advantage with such capacity 

ance is es- as they have ; but this seems rather unreason- 
sentiai able. Upon the assumption that they are not 

'choosing as wisely or as well as they might if they had wider 
knowledge of themselves and of the world of vocations which 
they are entering it is evident that there is a great need for 
the guidance which will enable them to gain and use such 
knowledge. 

This idea is further enforced by a consideration of the 
nature of modern industrial life as contrasted with the 
_. ., . rigid conditions of an earlier period. Under 
further en- the simpler system in which it was quite uni- 
t^'^nattu'e of ^^^^1^ assumed that the son would follow in 
modern in- the f ootsteps of his father in the pursuit of some 
dustnaiiife; ^^^ q£ ^^iq simple industries of those bygone 
days, there was little demand for guidance as there was little 
room for choice. Under present conditions, in which there 
are hundreds of possible courses which may be chosen and 
in which there is comparatively little tendency for sons to 
follow the occupations of their fathers, there is a need for 
guidance which has never existed hitherto. The complexity 
of our modern social and industrial relations, therefore, and 



The School as a Guiding Institution 173 

the freedom with which young people choose their own 
careers, emphasize the need of vocational guidance. 

To the social argument presented in the preceding para- 
graphs may be added also that based upon the character of 
the individual. The period of adolescence, the ^nd by the 
time when the majority of children are brought state of de- 
face to face with the problem of choosing or find- ^f ^^e indi- 
ing some means of making a living, is not specially viduai 
notable for its range of vision or its comprehension of human 
relationships, needs, and opportunities. Young people at 
this age know little of their own powers and less of the world 
into which they are about to plunge ; yet they are expected 
to hit upon some satisfactory solution of the problem of 
making a living. The result is often great individual loss 
and great social waste. They need opportunities to find 
themselves, — opportunities which may be utilized without 
the great strain incident to shifting from job to job in the 
industrial world. They need thoughtful help in forming 
life-career motives which shall give them the inspiration 
necessary to carry them over the hard road that leads to all 
worthy attainment. Furthermore they should have op- 
portunity to learn at least a Httle of the various careers which 
they may reasonably hope to pursue. Of such occupations 
as are open to them they should come to appreciate both 
attractive and unattractive features, they should learn what 
is expected of the worker and what he may expect in return ; 
what probability there is of securing permanent employment, 
and what possibility of future advancement. 

Reasons for Making the School a Guiding Institution 

In view of the small amount of accurate knowledge which 
teachers may reasonably be supposed to have of the hun- 
dreds of occupations which are potentially open to the 
workers of to-day, it may seem that the school is hardly 
the proper institution to charge with the duty of giving 



174 The School as a Social Institution 

vocational guidance. However, while it is true that teachers 

as a class are not well informed in such matters, it is also 

true that there is no large body of men any- 

The school ^here who have the desired knowledge. Not 

should be an ° 

instrument even the workers themselves have an adequate 
of vocational general view of the entire field. There have 

guidance : 

been very few thorough surveys of the industries 
and these few have generally been limited to a small terri- 
tory. Consequently, to urge ignorance on the part of teachers 
as a reason for depriving the school of the privilege of under- 
taking the work of vocational guidance is' to argue with equal 
force against such work on the part of any institution now 
existing. 

While the school may not as yet possess adequate knowl- 
edge of the vocations, it is the institution which is in the best 
(i) because position to have considerable information con- 
it is the in- cerning the character and abilities of the pro- 
whichhas spective worker. Hence, it would seem that as 
large oppor- ^}ig school has a favorable opportunity for study- 
gain infer- ing young people who are about to engage in the 
mation con- yarious occupations it might be well to add to 
character this Opportunity that of gaining and using all 
and abiuties available information in regard to those kinds of 
tive work in which they are likely to engage. Es- 

workers; pecially is this true if we assume that the school 
may have the hearty cooperation of parents, workers, em- 
ployers, and all other persons interested. 

The school has also a large part of the machinery neces- 
sary to assuming the work of vocational guidance ; or if the 
( ) because definite organization is still lacking, it has poten- 
it already tially most of the elements which are needed in 
^art^n^e foi'^^iiig the new system. The fact that some 
necessary schools have already assumed the responsibility 
machinery; ^^^ giving vocational guidance to students shows 
that no great legislative or administrative changes are neces- 



The School as a Guiding Institution 175 

sary to increase the amount of guiding work which the school 
may undertake. The school has always done a certain 
amount of this kind of work, often bhndly, it is true ; and 
the experience of the past illuminating the needs of the present 
suggests that the scope of the work be enlarged. 

It is for the good of the school itself that it assume some 
of the work of guidance ; for such effort is certain to bring 
it into more vital contact with the realities of 
life in such a way as to make schoolwork have a ^^ good"of 
deeper meaning and a stronger hold upon stu- the school 
dents. If a lack of reality and a certain aloofness 
from the world have been the basis of much criticism, it 
seems likely that much of the ground for such criticism is 
likely to be removed whenever the school goes consciously 
about the work of vocational guidance. 

If it seems probable that the school will receive great 
benefit from such work, it also appears quite likely that 
society itself will in a general way profit also. 
As the school and other organizations study the general so- 
various vocations, it seems evident that these "ai good 

« 1 , . 1 1 •J' will result ; 

nelds must become more and more conscious oi 
their own functions, of their weaknesses, of their responsi- 
bility to society in general and to the young worker in par- 
ticular. Thus there will accrue to the whole of society that 
large benefit which may be expected when the many activi- 
ties upon which mankind depends for its living and its 
welfare begin to be conscious of the social burdens and re- 
sponsibiUties which rest upon them. Heretofore the at- 
titude of industry has been that of complaining acceptance 
of the product of the schools with little effort to make the 
employment offered suitable to the needs of growing and 
ambitious youth. As the school shall give greater attention 
to vocational guidance it is to be expected that this attitude 
will change somewhat and that those men who have control 
in the various occupations will come to realize that something 



176 The School as a Social Institution 

more than a mere job must be offered to the earnest and 
capable candidate. 

We are Hving in an age when the social aim of education 
is continually urged upon the school. Any serious attempt 
to realize this aim must result in causing the school to pay 
considerable attention to that important phase of society 
which is seen in the various vocations that represent hu- 
manity in its working state. The school cannot very well 
emphasize the social aim without laying stress upon the kind 
of knowledge which will be of value in guiding young people 
in the choice of careers. 

In stating the reasons why the school should assume the 
burden of vocational guidance we have thus far overlooked 
the situation of the pupil himself. If he does not 
ne^ecTo"^^ receive adequate guidance from the school it is 
this matter not likely that he will receive it at all. It is cer- 
schcwi ^^^^ ^^^^ ^^® conditions of modern life do not 

means great make for such guidance by the family as much 
loss^ ^^ as in a less complex age. In spite of the 
deep interest of parents, the family has failed 
to meet the needs of the pi'esent so far as vocational guid- 
ance is concerned. Many parents are unwisely ambitious 
for their children, others are too anxious to get the benefit 
of the income that is to be derived from the first job that 
is offered, and still others are lamentably ignorant of the 
first principles that ought to govern in the choice of a life- 
work. Where parents have a wide vision and enough 
leisure to attend properly to the care of their children there 
is no great need for more than general guidance on the part 
of the school ; but in the case of thousands of families, es- 
pecially where both parents are almost wholly engrossed in 
the mere getting of a living, it is the school alone that can 
offer adequate guidance. 

As it has been assumed that the interest of the school is 
more in the permanent welfare of the child than in the itn- 



The School as a Guiding Institution 177 

mediate financial assistance of parents or in the providing 
of cheap labor for employers, it is likely to follow that the 
guidance given by the school will be of such a 
nature as to emphasize educational values rather ^^e poin "of 
than mere job-getting. The work of the employ- view of the 
ment agency, laudable in its field, is to bring the should be 
work and the worker together; but the ideal of added to 
the school must be to guide the prospective family and 
worker into wider knowledge of his own powers that of 
and of the various fields that are open to him ®™P°y®'' 
before attempting to find the particular place in which he is 
to work. If the school holds to this ideal, and it is inconceiv- 
able that it should not, such guidance as it may give will 
strongly emphasize the fact that the welfare of the children 
demands that the educational view supplement that of the 
family and of the employer. 

Means and Methods 

In the chapter on The School as a Selective Agency, em- 
phasis was laid upon the fact that the very nature of school- 
work is such as to sift out pupils and consequently 
offer direction of a blind sort. This fact sug- matter of 
gests a positive use of the materials of the school *^® school 

, „ . , . „ offers possi- 

as one of. the bases of vocational guidance. If biiitiesof 
the school undertakes to become an institution s^i^^^e 
for guidance rather than for wasteful selection, it seems evi- 
dent that the course of study may be so arranged and so 
used as to give certain kinds of knowledge that are funda- 
mentally necessary in the whole matter. 

In a subject such as arithmetic all problems which have 
to do with " things as they are " are valuable in giving a 
quantitative understanding of many of the matters that 
are of importance in forming the basis of knowledge which 
is necessary to the wise choice of lifework. In geography 
the amount of material bearing upon the lives and activities 



178 The School as a Social Institution 

of all sorts and conditions of men is practically limitless. 
Such material may well be considered of great importance 
in making vocational guidance mean more than a random 
clutching at the first kind of work that may be offered. 
As history becomes emancipated from politics, battles, and 
royal nonentities it offers a helpful background by provid- 
ing knowledge of the ways in which people have lived and 
worked, of the evolution of our modern industrial life, and 
of the social worth of the worker. " Every field of com- 
merce and industry is rich in historic material, the study of 
which may lead to the discovery of latent interests and 
aptitudes and provide information helpful in vocational 
selection." (Bonser, in Report of the New York City Board 
of Education Committee on Vocational Guidance, April 8, 
1916, page 869.) 

In some quarters great alarm has been felt because of the 
threatened dominance of the course of study by the material- 
Materiaiis- i^^ic spirit of commerce and industry considered 
tic ideas as the means of mere existence. As a basis of 

should not , • i • i , i c , i j 

predomi- Vocational guidance the course oi study must 
nate offer a broad view of the things that make hfe 

worth living as well as of those activities which make ex- 
istence possible. It is to be hoped that the attempt of the 
school to provide a preparation for intelligent vocational 
selection will lead to an emphasis upon the ethical and the 
cultural as well as upon the immediately practical. The 
presence of such subjects as literature, music, drawing, 
and history makes it seem unlikely that a purely materialistic 
spirit shall ever dominate the schools. 

The most obvious means of providing conscious vocational 
guidance is to introduce some form of organization which 

^ ^ has its particular duty cooperation with pupils 
Some defi- , ■ ■, ^ • c- ^- i xi 

nite organi- and parents m the choice oi occupations and the 
zationmay training preliminary to entrance upon actual 

be provided, ^ '^ . ^ , • ,- , 

wage earmng. Such an organization may be 



The School as a Guiding Institution 179 

wholly within the school, wholly without, or partly within 
and partly without. 

In New York City a few years ago the High School 
Teachers' Association undertook a work which involved 
having a special committee in every high school 
(both day and evening) within the city, the voluntary 
duties of which were " to aid deserving students to committee 

or tcflchfifs 

secure employment during vacations and for out- 
of -school hours in order to earn a part of their support; 
to advise those who are ready to leave school, in 
the choice of a vocation; to direct them how best to fit 
themselves for their chosen vocation and to assist them 
in securing employment which will lead to success in 
those vocations." At the same time a general com- 
mittee of the Association assisted the local committees 
" by bringing to the attention of employers the fact that 
the schools are wilhng and ready to help them to select 
suitable recruits for their service; by collecting informa- 
tion in regard to the opportunities which are open to high 
school students who must seek employment ; by setting 
on foot movements for securing vacation employment." 
(E. W. Weaver, Report of the Students' Aid Committee 
of thie High School Teachers' Association of New York Citij, 
1909.) 

In the city of Boston, through the efforts of Professor 
Frank Parsons a Vocational Bureau was established in 
1909. In the same year a plan was formu- 
lated whereby the Vocational Bureau secured ^^kh^'^co-" 
the cooperation of the schools of the city. The operates 
School Committee (June 7, 1909) instructed the f^^^^ 
Superintendent of Schools to appoint a com- 
mittee of six to work with the director of the Vocational 
Bureau. The nature of the efforts of these cooperating 
elements is to be seen in the following statement of the 
general aims : — 



180 The School as a Social Institution 

"1. To study the causes of the waste in the passing of unguided 
and untrained young people from school to work, and to assist in 
experiments to prevent this waste. 

"2. To help parents, teachers, children, and others in the 
problems of thoughtfully choosing, preparing for, and advancing 
in, a chosen life-work. 

"3. To work out programs of cooperation between the schools 
and the occupations, for the purpose of enabling both to make a 
more socially profitable use of talents and opportunities. 

"4. To publish vocational studies from the point of view of 
their educational and other efficiency requirements, and of their 
career-building possibilities. 

"5. To conduct a training course for qualified men and women 
who desire to prepare themselves for vocational-guidance service 
in the public-school system, philanthropic institutions, and in 
business establishments. 

"6. To maintain a clearing-house of information dealing with 
career problems." (Bloomfield, Youth, School, and Vocation, 
page 39.) 

This description of the nature of the work is so clear that 
it is hardly necessary to elaborate the various details in this 
connection. 

The foregoing paragraphs show the method of going about 
systematic vocational guidance from the point of view of 
organization. In the one case, we find a voluntary organiza- 
tion of teachers assuming the work ; in the other, a system 
of cooperation between the schools and a bureau which has 
independent existence. It now becomes necessary to point 
out some of the methods which are used in carrying on the 
work, regardless of the character of the organization which 
assumes the responsibility. 

The method As we have already seen, there are two funda- 
of voca- mental considerations which must be kept in view : 

tional guid- 
ance must first, the abilities and interests of the young people 

consider -^y^o are to be guided ; second, the opportunities 

certam fun- „„ . , . ,. „ 

damentai which are offered m the various Imes of activity 
questions Q^g ^j^gy j^q^ exist and as they may develop. It 



The School as a Guiding Institution 181 

is necessary to answer these questions : What would the 
prospective worker hke to do and what can he probably do 
well? What kinds of work may he reasonably expect to 
secure under the existing social and industrial conditions and 
what may he expect in the future ? 

Various means have been suggested and tried for finding 
out the capacities of young people. We have already seen 
that the course of study offers some opportunity 
for the pupil and his friends to discover his thecapaci- 
abilities and interests. More accurate and specific ^es of the 
information is often sought through the use of ^ims to dis- 
various psychological tests. In the laboratory cover what 
it is possible to discover many important facts 
concerning the abilities of the persons studied ; but un- 
fortunately there is no accurate way of determining into 
what field of work a person with certain characteristics should 
go — excepting possibly a few of the highly speciaUzed 
occupations. 

The demand for vocational guidance has brought forth 
a large number of persons who profess to be able to tell by 
examination of cranial configuration, texture of skin, color 
of eyes, shape of nose, appearance of hands, and similar 
characteristics into what kind of work the subject of the 
examination should go. They have, however, little con- 
nection with the schools and are not likely to have more; 
for their field, like that of the vendor of patent medicines, 
lies among those who are, or think they are, out of adjust- 
ment with the world, and who naively expect some magic 
to remedy their condition. 

The questionnaire is also a means of discovering interests 
and probable abilities. Obviously such a means is of little 
worth when employed with immature and inexperienced 
persons. With those who are somewhat trained in intro- 
spection, however, the method may be valuable in revealing 
and suggesting. 



182 The School as a Social Institution 

In contrast with the methods described in the preceding 
paragraphs is the vocational survey, in which there is a 
detailed study of the various kinds of work 
tionai sur- that are carried on in the community or the 
veyaimsto commonwealth. Instead of attempting to find 
opportuni- out what the prospective worker has the ability 
ties are Qp desire to do, this method attempts to dis- 
cover what employment the world offers him. 
Thus the two methods are supplementary, not antagonistic. 
The purely psychological method tends to foster the error 
that there is just one kind of work which any person should 
do; while the sociological method tends to cultivate the 
mistaken notion that the worker should take what is offered 
and be content with his lot. Obviously a wiser view is that 
until the world is so ordered that each can work in his own 
way at the thing that pleases him most, lifework must be a 
compromise between individual abilities on the one hand 
and social conditions on the other. 

A thorough vocational survey as a basis of guidance in- 
volves a careful study of all the different kinds of temporary 
and permanent forms of work represented in the territory 
to be covered — not merely a study of industries. It in- 
cludes a study of the nature of the processes carried on, 
the kinds of skill required of the worker, the conditions 
physical and moral, the income probable and actual, the 
rewards and advantages, the dangers and disadvantages, the 
competitive conditions, the probable future of the occupa- 
tion and of the worker in it, the opportunities for advance- 
ment in the field itself or through transfer to something else. 

In comparatively few communities does accurate knowl- 
edge of such matters as the foregoing exist. A substitute 
for such a basis of guidance (or a means of sup- 
knowledge plementing it where it does exist) is sometimes 
is still very provided in the following manner. Representa- 
tives of workers in various fields give addresses 



The School as a Guiding Institution 183 

to students in such a way as to show the character of the 
work and the conditions with respect to such matters as are 
mentioned in the preceding paragraph. Or sometmies the 
facts concerning certain fields are set forth in pamphlets or 
handbooks which are given to those wishing guidance. 
In some of the English and German cities many excellent 
handbooks of this type have been published. In Leipzig, 
for example, there has been published a series, costing 
only a few cents apiece, covering about a hundred occu- 
pations. 

Difficulties and Dangers 

It is an educational commonplace that the tendency of 
every new movement is to overemphasize the importance 
of the ideas which it represents, the reforms ^ 

"^ ' Dangers 

which it attempts. As vocational guidance are: (i) too 
in the school is an effort to overcome the evils ™"*^^ ®™" 

pnasis upon 

which result from a bhnd selective process based the indus- 
upon an intellectual type of training, there is *"^' 
danger that the new movement will place too great stress 
upon the industrial. As the old method of random selec- 
tion valued the intellectual and the professional too highly, 
it is possible that the work of vocational guidance may lead 
to too little appreciation of these elements. 

A danger closely allied to the foregoing is that of giving 
too much attention to mere job-finding. Clearly the pur- 
pose of vocational guidance is to bring the worker 
and the work together ultimately ; and a short- [?^ substitu- 

° . . tion of mere 

sighted policy of guidance may fail to see the job-finding 

wider social and educational relationships which ^°\^^^ 

guidance; 

need as careful consideration as does finding of 
a place for the candidate for a job. This danger is especially 
great when parents are anxious to secure increased income 
through the labor of their children and also when children 
are inclined to leave school more because of dissatisfaction 



184 The School as a Social Institution 

with the work than because of a due appreciation of the 
meaning of work. 

A certain amount of maturity is desirable before a definite 
decision is made in regard to hfework ; but there is a lurking 
, danger that organized effort to provide guidance 

choice of may really result in forcing a decision too early, 
vocation; Where attention is called to the advantages of 
this field or that, when other young people are deciding what 
career they are going to follow, there is perhaps an undue 
pressure exerted. The fact seems plain that a decision made 
too early is much worse than a state of indecision. Indeed 
there is a growing conviction among workers in the field 
that it is fully as important to defer decision until an ade- 
quate basis for making it has been gained as to secure the 
definiteness and the motive force which come from the 
making of a choice. 

There is a possibility of placing too much stress upon the 
positive side of guidance, of being too confident of the cor- 
rectness of conclusions reached through a study 
confidence ^^ ^^^ fields available and of the character of the 
in meager person to whom advice is given. A great deal 
nowe ge, ^^. g^j^jg^j^^g must be merely negative. If it is 
evident that certain necessary qualifications are lacking, it 
is safe to tell a boy that he should not attempt to become a 
worker in a field where the characteristics in question are 
of prime importance. The color blind may be guided away 
from painting and the tone deaf from music. It is very 
much less safe to give positive advice in regard to taking 
up a kind of work for which considerable talent is shown. 
Changing conditions and shifting interests may later make 
an altogether different choice wise or necessary. This 
statement is not in any way a disparagement of the studies 
which are being made with a view to making guidance pos- 
sible through a wider knowledge of the existence and sig- 
nificance of various capacities. With the development of 



The School as a Guiding Institution 185 

practical psychology and of the knowledge of the character- 
istics necessary in various occupations, it may be possible 
to give much more accurate guidance of a positive nature 
than is now wise. But up to the present so Httle is actually 
known of these important matters that it is necessary to be 
very modest in making claims of infallibility in giving voca- 
tional guidance. 

As the need of guidance is most evident in the great centers 
of population, the curse of the urban schools is Ukely to fall 
upon attempts to organize this new activity. 
This is the curse of too much machinery and too ^ai, rather " 
little humanity. As the worker in the field of than per- 
organized charity is tempted to lose his person- ment of 
ality in a sea of blank forms designed to secure young 
adequate knowledge of the cases treated, the 
worker in the field of vocational guidance is likely to 
suffer the same loss. To be sure, personal preference for 
this occupation or that must not interfere with a just 
consideration of the case at hand. In this matter judg- 
ment must be impersonal. The danger is not here, but 
rather in considering the child who desires guidance merely 
as a " case," a thing as mechanical as the process of making 
a pair of shoes. Sympathetic insight is a very necessary 
aid to scientific investigation. 

The Problems of Vocational Guidance 

One of the perplexing problems which confront the school 
in the matter of vocational guidance is that of determining 
at what time it should be given. In the ele- -phe most 
mentary school, children are too lacking in important 
maturity to profit by it to the greatest extent ; 



problems 
are 



and yet it is before the end of the eight years of W the 
that institution that at least half of the pupils for^g^ving 
pass beyond the possibility of receiving such guidance; 
guidance. Evidently what is needed in this period is 



186 The School as a Social Institution 

guidance that is educational rather than vocational. The 
difficulty then is to make the work of the elementary school 
of such a nature as to remove any tendency to a hasty de- 
cision in regard to lifework. 

In elementary and high schools there is the necessity of 
making a compromise between what is ideally desirable 
and what is actually possible. Plainly if social conditions 
make it possible or necessary for children to go to work at 
the age of fourteen, it is better that they have some vocational 
guidance before that time. Then at least the choice of a 
vocation will not be as blind as it would be otherwise. Con- 
sequently the school is continually facing the difficulty of 
reconciling high educational ideals with the practical con- 
ditions of life. 

In the administration of vocational guidance a consider- 
able difficulty is met in harmonizing the confficting ideas 
and interests of employers, parents, and labor 
moniz^g organizations with the highest good of the child 
conflicting and of society. Being human enough to desire 
what makes for their prosperity, employers are 
likely to wish cheap and abundant labor with little com- 
petition by otiier employers. If their wish is to be fulfilled, 
vocational guidance will direct children into some particular 
occupation and lead them to prepare for efficient work in 
it. On the other hand, if there is consideration of the in- 
terests of those who are already workers in the field, the 
tendency will be to restrict- the number of those who are 
to be directed into any given occupation and to increase the 
length of their preparation. Shortsighted parents, under 
the pressure of selfishness or necessity, are likely to exert 
their influence in the direction of the work which has great- 
est immediate promise. 

We find here what promises to be an enduring problem 
in the work of vocational guidance. It may be possible 
to find a solution of the problem of accurately determining 



The School as a Guiding Institution 187 

an individuars abilities and to accumulate an adequate 
body of knowledge concerning occupations ; but even after 
this work is done there will still be the difficulty of harmoniz- 
ing the conflicting interests of employers, parents, workers, 
prospective workers, and society in general. 

As a final problem may be mentioned that of contending 
with that social pressure which causes the individual to 
consider the esteem in which work is held rather 
than his own capacities or its actual social value, com^g"^" 
Not being bound to a hereditary occupation, social pres- 
any person may, in this country, aspire to any 
career. From very early times certain professions have 
been deemed the most desirable vocations. Consequently 
there has always been a form of social pressure to cause the 
free individual to try to reach the level of social service 
through law, medicine, theology, public office, or military 
service. If we may believe statistics, there has been a re- 
sultant overcrowding of some of the professions. 

An accompaniment of this view concerning the relative 
desirability of certain vocations is a snobbish attitude 
toward those forms of work which are manual rather than in- 
tellectual. We have not yet attained that degree of social- 
mindedness which will enable us to consider all kinds of 
work from the point of view of their social value. In the 
development of vocational guidance it will be necessary to 
work to bring about an attitude that is truly social ; so that 
no person may be handicapped in life by having been forced 
to a wrong choice of life work through social pressure. 

Summary 

As retardation, elimination, and acceleration represent a 
poorly directed kind of selection, vocational guidance offers 
an active attempt to provide direction which is based upon 
an intelligent study of both individual and social needs. 
The conditions of life to-day are such that young people 



188 The School as a Social Institution 

have more need of guidance than ever before, neither family 
nor industry being sufficient. At the time when children 
leave school, they are generally too immature to make a 
wise selection of lifework ; they are attracted by any kind 
of work which offers an immediate return for effort. To 
make matters worse, employers have generally been too 
willing to exploit the young worker, taking his service and 
giving him no return beyond a meager wage. 

Because of these conditions the school is beginning to take 
an active interest in the problems of guidance. The reasons 
which are advanced for such activity are as follows : (1) the 
school is the institution which has the opportunity to gain 
adequate information concerning the character and ability 
of prospective workers ; (2) it already has a large part of 
the necessary machinery ; (3) the good of the school will 
be furthered by such work ; (4) general social good is prom- 
ised; (5) the neglect of this matter means great individual 
loss ; (6) the opinions of family and employer should be 
modified by the point of view of the school. 

The means and methods of guidance are to be found in 
the nature of the curriculum, in special organizations for 
carrying on the work, in study of the capacities and interests 
of children, and in surveys of vocational opportunities. The 
actual knowledge and skill are still so very slight that the 
method of guidance must in a large measure be negative. 

The work of vocational guidance is subject to the dangers 
(1) of placing too much stress upon the industrial; (2) of 
substituting mere job-finding for real guidance ; (3) of forc- 
ing a choice of lifework too early ; (4) of dehumanizing the 
whole process by a machinelike treatment of the young 
people who are to be served ; and (5) of being too confident 
of the adequacy of meager knowledge. 

The most difficult problems that have to be met are (1) 
finding the proper time for guidance ; (2) harmonizing the 
more or less conflicting elements of individual desires and 



The School as a Guiding Institution 189 

ambitions, family wishes and prejudices, and current voca- 
tional conditions ; and (3) overcoming the social pressure 
which tends to make certain kinds of work seem more de- 
sirable than others which are of equal social value. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Ayres, L. p., Psychological Tests in Vocational Guidance. Journal 
of Educational Psychology, IV : 232-237. April, 1913. 

Bloomfield, Meyer, Readings in Vocational Guidance. 

Bloomfield, Meyer, Vocational Guidance of Youth. 

Bloomfield, Meyer, Youth, School, and Vocation. 

BoNSER, F. G., The Curriculum as a Means of Revealing Vocational 
Aptitudes. Education, XXXVII : 145-159. Nov., 1916. 

Brewer, John M., A Broader View of Vocational Guidance. School 
and Society, V : 661-668. Jan. 9, 1917. 

Davis, J. B., Vocational and Moral Guidance. 

Greenwood, J. M., Vocational Guidance in High School. Educa- 
tional Review, XLVII : 457-468. May, 1914. 

HoLLiNGWORTH, H. L., Vocational Psychology. Especially Chapter 
VIII, The School Curriculum as a Vocational Test. 

Jennings, Irwin G., Vocational Guidance in Colleges and Universi- 
ties. Educational Review, LI: 331-341. April, 1916. 

Johnston, C. H., The Modern High School. Chapter XXIV, 
Vocational Guidance and the High School (Meyer Bloom- 
field). 

King, Irving, Social Aspects of Education. Chapter X, Voca- 
tional Direction. 

KiTSON, Harry D., Interest as a Criterion in Vocational Guidance. 
Educational Review, LII : 349-356. Nov., 1916. 

LuTZ, R. R., Wage Earning and Education. 

National Association of Vocational Guidance, Proceedings. 

Parsons, Frank, Choosing a Vocation. 

Puffer, J. A., Vocational Guidance. 

Raymer, J. W., Advisory Systems in High Schools. Educational 
Review, XLIV: 466-491. Dec, 1912. 

Richards, C. R., Industrial Training, A Report on Conditions 
in New York State. Twenty-sixth Annual Report of the 
Bureau of Labor Statistics of the State of New York. 

Smith, W. R., Introduction to Educational Sociology. Chapter XVII, 
Vocational Guidance as a Socialized School Function. 



190 The School as a Social Institution 

U. S. Bureau of Education Bulletin, 1914, No. 14. Papers of 

Vocational Guidance Association, 1913. 
Weaver, E. W., Profitable Vocations for Girls. 
Weaver, E. W., and Byler, J. F., Profitable Vocations for Boys. 
WiNSLOW, C. H., Vocational Guidance in Industrial Education. 

Twenty-fifth Annual Report of the Commissioner of Labor. 

Department of Commerce and Labor. Washington. 
Woods, E. B., The Social Waste of Unguided Personal Ability. 

American Journal of Sociology, XIX : 358-369. 
Report op New York City Board op Education Committee on 

Vocational Guidance. 1914. 
Report op the Students' Aid Committee op the High School 

Teachers' Association of New York. 1909. 



CHAPTER VIII 

THE SCHOOL AS AN INSTRUMENT OF CONTROL: MORAL 
EDUCATION 



The superior methods of control are inward. An external means, 
such as punishment, operates only so long as it is inevitable. Let 
"witnesses be wanting or judges weak, and ill-wiU is sure to pass into 
evil deeds. The control of the person's will by precept or example 
is, therefore, preferable to the control of it by the employment of 
sanctions. Still better tactics than an attack upon the will is a 
flank movement aimed at the feelings or the judgment. — E. A. 
Ross, Social Control, page 429. 



Nature and Purpose of Control 

In the preceding chapters we have seen that by acting as 
an agency of selection and by attempting actual guidance 
of young people, the school becomes an institu- 
tion which is one of the great regulative forces Selection 

° ° and guid- 

of society. Through the process of selection it ance are 
merely sifts out individuals who have certain ^°"°sof 

'' . control 

characteristics, turning back or inviting onward 

according to natural capacity, without exerting any great 
modifying influence in the process. In the work of guid- 
ance likewise the function of the school is to act as 
a regulative force through a process of discovering and 
directing ability rather than through the creating or 
modifying of those characteristics which may seem de- 
sirable. 

191 



192 The School as a Social Institution 

We now come, however, to a phase of the work of the school 
in which the purpose is manifestly to do more than discover 

what original nature is or to direct it when dis- 
formaticmis covered. We are now to consider the function 
the highest of the school as an instrument for the formation 
^pe o con- ^£ character, a process which represents the 

highest form of social control. 
It has often been pointed out that society may exert 
control through such means as the mihtary and police, or 

through such means as education. In the one 
The kmds case, there is a kind of control the effectiveness 

of control ' 

are : physi- of which depends upon physical force and the 
cai and £gg^j, which it may arouse. In the other case, 

educational "^ ' 

there results a condition in which the effect is 
produced from within, a condition in which the individuals 
who are influenced perpetuate in themselves the force 
which is the basis of control. Mere physical force is a make- 
shift, a poor substitute for the real. 

Nowhere is the futihty of physical control seen better 
than in the realm of religion. Whether the attempt be 
F tu"t f i^^^6 to crush heresy by an appeal to the arm of 
physical the law, or to bring the non-conformist to the na- 
controi tional rehgion by the imposition of penalties, or 

to overcome the ideas of a prophet by pei'secution, the 
result is the same. Even when men's bodies can be made 
to bow to orthodoxy by the strength of the law, there is 
obviously no true control. 

The same idea is emphasized by the conditions in civil 
administration. The existence of jails and penitentiaries 
is less a sign of control than evidence of lack of it. When 
the criminal is captured and confined, his punishment is, 
or generally has been, an admission by the State that it has 
been unable to exert genuine control over him. It may be 
that he is a person who is not amenable to the directive 
force of education, or that the State has failed to extend its 



The School as an Instrument of Control 193 

efforts to him. In either case the fact that society, acting 
through the State, finds it necessary to resort to physical 
restraint is evidence of a lack of real control. 

In contrast with the temporary and ineffective character 
of the process described in the foregoing paragraphs stands 
that type of control which is based upon the im- 
parting of ideas' and the arousing of the will, the "^^^ 
type which works from within. While the con- control 
straint of physical force is felt only while it is t^o^g'^ 
present, the power of an idea continues even 
after the person who gave it has passed from sight and 
knowledge. When an idea or a belief has once been thor- 
oughly implanted in the mind, it exerts an abiding force of 
the most wonderful tenacity. Education is then the form 
of control which can be relied on to accomplish the aims and 
ideals which any group of people may consider desirable, 
as far as it is possible to secure such results through any kind 
of directive force. 

The potency of ideas as a means of direction, regulation, 
or control is seen throughout the course of history. Among 
the Jews the religious ideal has preserved a surpassing de- 
gree of unity through centuries. By the power of her cul- 
ture " Captive Greece took captive her rude conqueror " ; 
and in a similar manner, Rome, falling a prey to the hordes 
of invading barbarians, eventually transmitted her civiliza- 
tion to them. 

The basis of control lies as much in the instincts of hu- 
manity as in the external conditions which demand order 
and organization as the foundation of welfare and ^^ ^ . , 

TTTi -1 • • -111 , . . The basis of 

progress. While it is conceivable that the instinct control is 

to seek the society of one's kind might impel instinctive 

human beings to flock together under circumstances in 

which law and order would have to be developed because 

of the pressure of external needs and without the assistance 

of internal forces, it is certainly not true that the elements 



194 The School as a Social Institution 

of control have been evolved in such a manner. There are 
within us two groups of instincts which naturally lead to 
control : (1) those tendencies which are associated with 
the desire to dominate ; and (2) those inborn characteristics 
which make us amenable to the influence of others. 

The desire to control and the parental instinct form the 

basis of control viewed as an active process. The tendency 

to dominate may appear as a mild force affecting 

nings of"" ^^^Y ^ small and immediate group ; or it may 

active con- manifest itself in the ambition of an Alexander, 

+rn1 

a Caesar, or a Napoleon, with only the horizon as 
its limit. Out of this force, whether it be great or small, 
springs the beginning of control. In a crude form it is, 
as we have seen, physical ; in its more refined form it is 
moral, civic, religious, — dependent on education. 

The Tuscarora Indians put their young men through 
weeks of starvation in dairkness in order that they might 
subdue them properly, thus establishing the 
tions ofthe dominance of the old over the young. Among the 
instinct to most widely scattered races men have placed and 
held women in subjection, using various methods 
to keep the exploited sex in a condition regarded as satis- 
factory by their masters. It must be said, however, that 
ages of subjection have not served to destroy in woman the 
instinctive desire to control which is characteristic of hu- 
manity as a whole. Perhaps it may be that the popularity 
of teaching as a profession among women is due in some 
degree to the fact that it offers an opportunity for the exer- 
cise of this " will to power." Not only have women and 
young people been subject to the domination of groups of 
others, but Hkewise have slaves and servants fallen within 
the scope of the operation of this strong instinct. 

In the world politics of to-day there is the most obvious 
possible manifestation of the desire to dominate. England, 
Russia, Germany, all desire to dominate parts of Asia in- 



The School as an Instrument of Control 195 

habited by people who are backward in comparison with 
occidental standards. The desire for a " place in the sun " 
is to be gratified only by exercising the power to control 
increasing areas and populations. 

Beneath all the primitive ordeals which elders impose 
upon juniors, beneath the exploitation of women by men, 
of slaves and servants by masters, and of workers by em- 
ployers, beneath the worldwide desire of nation to dominate 
nation, is undoubtedly a deep-seated human instinct, " the 
will to power." 

If we now turn from the active phase of control to the 
passive, we shall find that being controlled is not to be ex- 
plained as mere weakness, but that it is based in 
part at least upon instincts which parallel those tive basfs'^of 
which lead to dominance. Self-abasement, sym- the passive 
pathy, the instinct to seek approval, and the conteoi 
desire to follow play their part in social control 
as truly as the more aggressive instincts. Even in a 
democracy where all men are held to be " born free 
and equal " there are not lacking signs that there is a 
something deeply rooted in humanity which leads men 
to subject themselves willingly to the power of others. 
Toadying to wealth or social position, subservience to the 
authority of a great name, and intellectual subjection to the 
guidance of a newspaper or a magazine illustrate what is 
meant. 

In a large part of the history of the world the religious 
instinct has served as a basis of control. In the expansion 
of Mohammedanism it was something more than 

. The reli- 

the sword that spread the authority of the caliphs, gjoug in- 

The growth of the medieval church and the ex- stinct as an 
tension of the power of the popes can hardly be ®^*™p® 
explained if we leave the religious instinct out of the reckon- 
ing. Furthermore, as kings rise and spread their authority, 
they profess to rule by divine right ; that is, they make their 



196 The School as a Social Institution 

appeal for authority to the religious instinct. Crusades 
are preached as the " will of God " ; the Protestant Revolt 
is justified as a manifestation of the divine plan ; govern- 
ments are set up and thrown down because " God wills it." 
Even the colonization of the New World is furthered by a 
powerful manifestation of the rehgious instinct. In all 
these cases men are controlled in part at least through an 
appeal to that which is instinctive in their nature. 

In concluding this discussion of the instinctive basis of 
control, it is well to point out that the active and passive 

factors are not necessarily opposed to each other, 
and passive ^^ ^^^ ^^^^ place, the aggressive desire to control 
elements finds a counterpart in those phases of human 

nature which make men wilh'ng to be controlled. 
In the second place, a large part of what seems passive sub- 
jection to authority is but a disguised manifestation of the 
active phase. The individual who submits to the dominat- 
ing power of another or to that of a group becomes by that 
very act a partner in the active control which his leader or 
nation or church exerts. The Crusader is not merely sub- 
ject to the authority of the Christian chivalric ideal; he 
is partaker in the increased prestige of his rehgion. The 
citizen who submerges his individuality in the industries or 
armies of his country occupies in his own person a part of 
that " place in the sun " which his rulers seek. 

Historical Types of Control through Education 

While no race or nation has ever been so barbarous as to 
fail to show some signs of control through education, it may 
safely be said that no better example of the use of this 
method can be found than ancient Israel. In the deepest 
possible manner their life was centered in The Law. This 
fact rendered education a national necessity, and, in the 
course of time, led to the establishment of schools. From 
home, from school, from synagogue, and from temple, radiated 



The School as an Instrument of Control 197 

the influence of The Law, a great educational force and a 
wonderful means of moral control. The training which was 
based upon this foundation formed a strong bond 
among all the people, while at the same time it Jewish edu- 
acted as a means of securing desirable moral ^ased' upon 
conduct. Whether external signs of authority The Law, 
were in the hands of judges, prophets, or kings, ^^^^g/ ^^ 
there was always to be seen the constant force powerful 
of education based upon The Law as the real so^i° on- 
controlling agency in the life of the people. Even troi 
in times of captivity or foreign domination, Israel 
was ruled and guided by an education which was founded 
upon the sacred literature. Largely, if not solely, through the 
influence of education the Jewish people have preserved a 
type of moral and religious control which has made it pos- 
sible for them to weather the storms of ages of persecution. 

Among the Greeks we find that while control can hardly 
be said to be based upon a sacred literature — although 
Homer and Hesiod may seem to offer a corresponding 
foundation of education — education was centered q, ggjj ^^^_ 
very clearly in the ideal of control. Among cation, 
the Spartans, for example, the whole state was ^^tning was 
so thoroughly organized as a great educational distinctly 
institution that every means which could be ™°''^ 
devised was used to give to young Spartans, both boys and 
girls, such training as would result in a kind of conduct 
approved by the elders. Constant supervision, the contin- 
uous force of good example, inspiration through special 
effort of adults for the benefit of their favorites, discus- 
sion of moral themes, rewards for good conduct and pun- 
ishment for wrongdoing, — all were used to build up a 
marvelous type of control through education. Further- 
more, even music and physical training were used with a 
definite moral purpose. 

Among the Athenians conditions were similar in many 



198 The School as a Social Institution 

respects ; and education evolved as a definite means of 
moral control. But while many of the hardy virtues of 
the Spartans were also necessary in Athens, there 
educatron developed an ideal of harmony, of beauty, of 
exhibits a happiness toward which the various kinds of train- 
troHnwhich ^^S l^d. This exempHfies a form of control no 
free moral less than the Spartan type, the unbreakable force 
fs^d^eveloped ^^ which is Seen in the defenders of the pass at 
Thermopylae. The results, however, reveal the 
possibilities of a type of culture to which the Spartans 
never rose. Back of the ideal of harmony, beauty, and 
happiness was a conception of personality which raised 
the problem of harmonizing social control with individual 
freedom, a problem with which the world is still struggling. 
Through a type of education in which physical, intellectual, 
moral, religious, and aesthetic elements were all emphasized 
the Athenians sought to develop that character which could 
rise above the level of mere control of Present by Past. 
From the point of view of the individual such an ideal meant 
a freedom of personal development which was to be found 
in no other ancient state ; from that of society it meant in 
reality no relaxing of the right to control although it shifted 
the method to a different level, that of developing free moral 
personality as contrasted with the iron rule of fixed custom. 
In the Middle Ages under the influence of the Christian 
Church there appeared a new type of control. An institu- 
tion superior to the State and to all worldly 
medieval authority arose and exerted its dominating force 
Church rep- over every level of society from slave to emperor. 

r6S6tltS fl. 

new type of ^^^ ^^^ means of domination was through an 
religious education which was moral and religious. The 
services of the Church, the teaching of the cate- 
chism, the work of the schools which gradually devel- 
oped served to exert an influence which made the medie- 
val Church one of the most powerful instruments of 



The School as an Instrument of Control 199 

control which the world has ever seen. Of all ideas which 
have exerted a binding force upon mankind there has been 
none which has shown a greater potency than this : " It is 
the will of God, and the eternal welfare of the individual 
depends upon his obedience." Through all its various 
means of education the medieval Church impressed this 
belief upon the different peoples who came within reach of 
its influence. Instead of conquering armies, this gradually 
growing institution sent forth missionaries, preachers, and 
teachers who accomplished what no army has ever been able 
to do : they won the undying loyalty of those whom they 
conquered. Thus the Church has taught the world the lesson 
of the invincible power of ideas, as contrasted with the im- 
potence of mere physical force. 

From the foregoing examples of control through educa- 
tion it must not be inferred that training can eradicate 
human instincts or be completely successful in a _ 
warfare against them. The events of the past ness of 

few years show clearly that even centuries of .®'^!"*^°° 
, . , 111 '° '*^ ^8^* 

education have not been able to overcome the against 

strength of certain brutal instincts, that education i°stmct 

in humanitarianism, universal brotherhood, and pacifism, 

has not yet shown itself strong enough to resist the might 

of the mob spirit, the inborn love of fighting, and the 

lust for power. To paraphrase Schiller, " Against instincts, 

even education struggles in vain." 

Control in a Democracy : Moral Education 

Democracy is generally understood to mean a condition 
in which the people govern themselves, as contrasted with 
a form of government under which some individual Meaning of 
or some group exercises a dominating force, re- democracy 
gardless of the wishes of the governed. Interpreted in a 
practical way this does not mean that each individual 
governs himself absolutely; although he does have a 



200 The School as a Social Institution 

wide range of freedom in directing his affairs. It means 
rather that control in all matters which demand united 
action proceeds from the authority of a majority or a 
plurality of those who participate in the right of suffrage. 
Ideally whenever there is a conflict of opinion, there should 
arise from the warfare of ideas a thorough unanimity of 
belief and action. Practically such a result is never to be 
expected; for there is enough diversity in human nature 
to make it impossible for a majority to convince a minority 
of the desirability or practicability of any course of action 
which offers opportunity for disagreement. 

In the solution of a complex problem of control, like that 
offered by the prohibition question, the ideas of a certain 
group of people come to dominate, not because all citizens 
are convinced of the desirability of the proposed action but 
because our system of government gives the majority the 
right or the power to impose their ideas upon all. The 
opposite of such a practice would of course be absurd; 
since it would make the majority subject to the will of the 
minority. 

In any form of organized society the apparent forces of 
control are the various executive, legislative, and judicial 
», , bodies which are chosen to carry out the crystal- 

of control in lized will of the majority. The police, the con- 
a democracy gtabulary, the militia, the army represent to the 
physical, eye and to the imagination the actual physical 
but moral force necessary to the enforcement of the social 
will. But as we have already seen, true control does not 
spring from physical force, and an army is neither the 
symbol nor the reality of such control. While, as King 
Solomon suggested, it may be well to provide " a whip 
for the horse, a bridle for the ass, and a rod for the 
fool's back," the government of an intelligent people Uving 
together under a democratic form of administration can be 
based only upon a system of morality. For the whip, the 



The School as an Instrument of Control 201 

bridle, and the rod there must be substituted moral ideas 
which shall work from within. 

Moral education, then, is to be interpreted not in terms 
of theories about conduct, but rather in terms of actual 
practice resulting from proper habituation, adequate in- 
telligence, and right desires. It is here that a fundamental 
cause of much misconception in regard to moral education 
lies. If we interpret the Socratic dictum, " Knowledge is 
virtue," in terms of mere ideas about morals, the maxim is 
plainly inconsistent with commonsense observation. If, 
however, we;conceive moral ideas as knowledge functioning 
we have a better basis for a consideration of the true meaning 
of moral education. Mere ideas about kindness, honesty, 
and generosity do not necessarily make people kind, honest, 
or generous; but those ideas functioning are the actual 
virtues. Knowledge of the principle that we ought to be 
considerate of the rights of others may or may not lead us 
to practice the doctrine; but the idea functioning is con- 
siderateness. In the one case, we have a concept of a virtue ; 
in the other, we have the virtue itself. 

Moral education may then be defined as the process of 

building up attitudes, habits, desires, and ideas which 

actually enter into conduct and are in reality a part „ 

•^ 1 Meaning of 

of it. This definition is plamly much more in- moral 

elusive than one which is narrowed down to a e<i"cation 
mere knowledge of right and wrong. In the broad sense 
the term should include all that is done by way of character- 
building, not merely formal lessons on moral subjects given 
at specified times. In this wider sense moral education 
will be seen to be inherent in every subject in the course of 
study, in every relation of life. 

As this section began with a statement of the nature of 
control in a democracy we may now (after our excursus into 
the nature of moral education) bring it to a close by point- 
ing out that if democratic control is what we have stated 



202 The School as a Social Institution 

then it necessarily follows that such a system can be devel- 
oped only through the activities of various institutions work- 
Societv ^^^ together in greater or less harmony. The 

must de- home, the school, the Church, the press, the 
variouTin^ theater, and the fraternal organization are the 
stitutions instrumentalities upon which the greater society 
t^ou'gh™ must depend for that moral education which is 
moral edu- the foundation of control. Of these different 
cation institutions only the school comes within the 

scope of our present study; but it is well to keep con- 
tinually in mind the fact that it is not the sole source of 
moral training, and probably not the most important. The 
The school home has the advantage of an earlier beginning 
is the most j^ the work and a longer time for its perfecting ; 
strument for while the Church has the important possibility of 
such control supplying a religious sanction. But although 
other institutions have certain advantages, the school alone 
is under the direct control of the State and consequently offers 
opportunities for conscious direction in a manner quite 
different from other institutions. Moreover, the school 
offers possibihties of influencing other social organizations. 
Hence it is yar excellence the State's most available instru- 
ment of control. 

The School as an Agency of Moral Education 

It seems that the school as an institution has always shown 
a strong tendency toward specialization in intellectual 
„. ^ activities. When the foundations of modern 

The nature 

of the school elementary education were laid, it is true that 

it has^^ *^** *^^ P^^* ^^ ^^^ curriculum of most importance was 
tended to- material relating to religion ; but one may without 
Tu^'^t^d"^" i^^r^verence suspect that the catechism, the re- 
and the hgious and moral stories, and even the Bible were 
formal taught in such a way as to appeal less to the heart 

than to the head. Whether this suspicion is well grounded 



The School as an Instrument of Control 203 

or not, it is certainly true that the tendency of the Amer- 
ican public school has been to make a wide enlargement of 
the scope of the material which is intellectual in its character. 
There seems to have been an inevitable tendency to emphasize 
memorizing, appreciating, and thinking rather than doing. 

If we examine the various parts of the elementary or 
secondary school curriculum we shall discover that this 
peculiar tendency stands out very prominently, iiiustra- 
and that reforms in education have generally, if *^°°^ 
not always, been directed to overcoming it. The language 
studies, which have formed the core of the elementary 
course, have thus suffered from a formalism based largely 
upon the doctrine of intellectual discipline, while such im- 
provements as dramatization, the writing of real letters, the 
spelhng of useful words, and the attempt to substitute 
training in the effective and correct use of language for formal 
grammar all show consistent efforts to get away from mere 
memorizing and mere intellectual activity. Music, as a sub- 
ject of study rather than a mere pastime, has also shown the 
tendency to become formal and intellectual rather than artis- 
tic, while improvements in the methods of teaching it have 
emphasized the fact that mere knowledge about it is not the 
great desideratum, even though that be important. History, 
geography, nature study, and even manual training all show 
the same relationship between a tendency toward intellectual 
formalization and progress toward vital presentation. 

Although the school in all ages and among all peoples 

has manifested a discouraging faciUty in separating itself 

from real hfe and in building up a little world 

of its own quite artificial in its nature, there seems ^^} *^® , 
^ ' nature of 

to be no valid reason for permitting this condition the school 
to endure forever. Instead, it seems obvious suggests the 

. ' possibihtyof 

that m the school there are and always have been most effec- 

most valuable opportunities and situations for ^"^? ™°''** 

training 

emphasis of the moral m a practical way. 



204 The School as a Social Institution 

The trouble has been merely a neglect of the possibilities 
that exist and must always exist where a group of children 
or young people are acquiring education. Every subject 
in the course of study and every school situation is rich in 
such opportunities. 

If the school is to operate effectively in bringing about 
proper moral development it must provide an actual moral 
milieu. It seems clear that wherever human beings, whether 

adults or children, are working together there are 
must afford inevitably conditions that afford the possibility 
an actual of moral training. As we have seen, however, 

the school has had a tendency to neglect recogniz- 
ing and using this potential field. What has been continually 
possible has not always been actual ; for the school has often 

been so completely absorbed in doing intellectual 
ways pres- work that it has seemed to be oblivious to the 
ent as a fact that it is by nature an institution for char- 
but it must acter-building. The problem is to make the po- 
be recog- tential actual, to give reahty to forces which are 
order to be- present but have failed to operate most effectively 
come a because of the failure to recognize their possibili- 

reaUty ^. a f 

ties. 

The first thing then for the teacher who desires his school 
to furnish a real moral milieu is to recognize the fact that 
the condition already exists and must always be present. 
It is Uke having beauty around us : the first step is to recog- 
nize the beautiful as it already exists in our environment. 
Or it may be compared with the conditions of having friends : 
the beginning is appreciating the friendliness that there 
already is naturally in our associates. 

An exceptionally important factor in providing a proper 
social and moral environment in the school is the cultivation 
of the right tone or spirit-. This does not mean chiefly the 
development of a spirit of pride in the school or class; 
although, under proper conditions, that may be helpful. 



The School as an Instrument of Control 205 

The kind of school spirit which is based merely upon a desire 
to see one's own institution ascendant over others, especially 
in athletics, is quite Ukely to arouse feelings and 
promote actions which can hardly be called ethical, moraj'en- 
The spirit or tone that is meant here is one of vironment 
cordiality and harmony, of interest in work, of gchooT spirit 
cooperation, of mutual consideration. It is the 
very opposite of that mechanical and dehumanized routine 
which exists when the teacher fails to realize the tremendous 
significance of genuine human relationships or when he is so 
overwhelmed with work that in self-defense he becomes a 
machine. 

The orphan school which Pestalozzi conducted at Stanz 
is an inspiring example of the kind of spirit that is meant. 
He was father, mother, nurse, and teacher, pouring into the 
lives of the children his own love and sympathy and finding 
that spirit reflected in their conduct. The opposite type is 
found in many a city school of the present, where the teacher 
is a mere cog in a pedagogical machine and the pupils are 
but grist to run through the mill. 

If from the subjective point of view the school must have 
the right kind of animating spirit, it must from the ob- 
jective point of view have provided suitable 

situations for the exercise and growth of moral Externally 

. school or- 

ideals and habits. To arrange external condi- ganization 

tions is generally much easier than to provide the ™"^* Pf°" 
o ^ f yj^g situa- 

intangible subjective factors. But the school tions of 
as organized has countless provisions for oppor- ^^^ ^'^" 
tunities of both kinds. Every hour of the day 
offers situations which may call forth manifestations of 
good will, consideration for others, and kindness. The 
very nature of the school offers wide opportunity for em- 
phasizing such virtues as punctuality, neatness, cleanliness, 
perseverance, and honesty. To say then that the school 
must provide external conditions which shall afford oppor- 



206 The School as a Social Institution 

tunities for training in morals is but to suggest something 
which is inherent in its very nature although not always 
utilized completely. Here again we find that one of the 
great essentials is for the school to recognize and use its 
possibilities. 

In view of this situation it is well for those who take alarm 
at the absence of book courses in ethics to take heart. Their 

efforts toward improvement might well be di- 
need be felt rected toward greater emphasis upon the adequate 
because of utilization of school situations for ethical ends, 
of formal rather than to attempts to have knowledge about 
courses in morals imparted. Effort must also be continually 

directed to making school life less artificial and 
formal and correspondingly more like the best of social life 
in our democratic institutions. 

The Mora-L Significance of the Course of Study 

In the chapter on the Curriculum it is shown that the 
subject matter of education is an epitome of the best of 
. human experience, that it offers a basis for the 
the cumc- interpretation of present social conditions, and 
^^"^ that consequently it bears a very important rela- 

tion to conduct. The discussion in that chapter is from the 
general social point of view. It may be well to take up at 
this time a consideration of the special moral values of some 
of the subjects that are taught. From this change in point 
of view it should not be inferred that social value is not 
essentially moral. The difference is this : in the one case, 
we consider the worth of subject matter to society in general ; 
in the other, we take a more immediate view of the bearing 
of the content of education upon conduct. 

The chief question in the present discussion of the curricu- 
lum is, What is the bearing of the various kinds of subject 
matter upon the lives of pupils, in school and afterwards ? 
We are here interested in discovering in what ways we may 



The School as an Instrument of Control 207 

expect to find such subjects as history, civics, hterature, phys- 
iology and hygiene, and nature study entering into ideals of 
Hfe and conduct, that is, in exercising the function of control. 
Probably a large amount of the material which is found 
in the course of study has no particular moral bearing. The 
fundamentals of arithmetic, spelling, writing, and 

grammar do not of themselves seem to have any ^^® direct 
, . .„ „i c moral value 

moral significance. That two and two are four, of some 

that receive is better than recieve, and that a cer- subjects is 

. not apparent 
tain agreement between subject and predicate is 

expected do not seem to stand forth like great moral guide 

posts. Yet back of the mere facts is a situation which is 

always rich in moral possibilities ; this is the activities 

which are involved in the process by which or through which 

these facts are learned. 

Standing somewhat in contrast with such subjects as 

writing, spelling, arithmetic, and grammar are the studies 

which have to do with human beings in their 

..... ,., J-- 1 1 Other sub- 

activities, — history and civics, geography, and jg^ts show a 

literature. It seems that such fields as these rich moral 
should have a closer relationship to morals than 
the subjects mentioned in the preceding paragraph. A 
large part of the material presented in literature has been 
chosen because of its value as a means of character-building. 
While the dry-as-dust part of history, the skeleton of dates 
and names cannot be said to hold similar promise, there is 
in history that great world of biographical material which 
educators of all ages have held to be of very great worth in 
developing ideals and giving models for imitation. The 
material of civics presents one of the most important phases 
of the citizen's moral obligations, if it is not a mere descrip- 
tion and explanation of organizations and processes. 

From the brief descriptions given in the preceding para- 
graph, descriptions which have long been familiar to all 
who have had even the slightest connection with the work 



208 The School as a Social Institution 

of education, it is evident that there is present in the cur- 

The actual riculum, at least potentially, a great deal of material 

moral worth of moral worth. But this situation is one of con- 

of subjects siderable difficulty ; for the real test of the value 

IS more a ... 

matter of of material lies not in an examination of the 

of '^cSrSr nature of the studies, but rather in a survey of 
investiga- their results. The school has always, or nearly 
^°^ always, been prone to the fault of deciding a 

priori. Only recently has it been called upon to justify 
itself by showing measurable results. Perhaps we may 
not hope for much information in regard to the actual 
results of material which is to be used in character-build- 
ing. With the amount of skill and knowledge which we 
have at present it hardly seems profitable to attempt to 
secure the objective kinds of measurement that are possible 
in such matters as arithmetic, spelling, and writing. How- 
ever, even though we must admit a certain weakness here, 
it is interesting to learn the results of a study which reveals 
in part the effects of the course of study upon children's 
ideals. In The Educational Review of June, 1916, W. G. 
Bateman presents a study of " The Ideals of Some Western 
Children " in which he gives figures which represent a merg- 
ing of the results of previous studies with those of his own 

investigation. In a table which combines the 
gation of results secured from studies of more than eight 
children's thousand children in Minnesota, California, New 

Jersey, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, and Montana, 
it is shown that there is a steady decline in the percentage 
of ideals representing acquaintances, from eighty per cent 
at six years of age to about thirteen at the age of fifteen ; 
that there is a corresponding increase in the ideals repre- 
senting public characters from about eleven per cent to 
nearly eighty; and that there is a considerable fluctuation 
in those ideals that are based upon characters in fiction, 
the highest point being reached at the age of nine. 



The School as an Instrument of Control 209 

The influence of the school is clearly shown in the ideals 
which represent public characters. In the Montana list, 
Washington and Lincoln were the names most often men- 
tioned, both boys and girls showing the same tendency. 
The determining force of the curriculum is still further em- 
phasized by the fact that the three names highest in the 
girls' list were Washington, Lincoln, and Longfellow, — 
the woman highest in the list (Rosa Bonheur) standing 
fourth in rank. This fact is probably due less to a desire 
on the part of girls to be boys than to the nature of the ma- 
terial which is studied in school. Perhaps if the lives of 
great women were presented as fully as those of Washing- 
ton and Lincoln the girls would show a change in their 
preference. 

That the school is not entirely predominant, however, is 
shown by the fact that several names appear which are 
probably not to be found in the material provided by the 
course of study, — a motion picture favorite, a well-known 
actress, a famous singer, and a baseball player of national 
reputation. In the case of fiction especially, " The line is 
interesting as showing how little the reading of children 
afifects them as well as its diminishing influence with age." 
(Page 33.) 

In addition to the general problem of the moral signifi- 
cance of the curriculum there is also that of the advisability 
of providing a special course in ethics in elemen- _. 
tary or secondary schools. In the solution of this tion of a 
there are two sets of facts which are extremely ^^^^^^, 

course in 

difficult to harmonize. On the one hand, there ethics leads 
is the obvious statement that if conduct is to be *<>« dilemma 
governed by something more than habit or caprice, it is 
necessary to develop concepts, ideals, principles ; but, on 
the other hand, we find the peculiar fact that knowledge 
about morals is not necessarily morality itself, that such 
knowledge is not always carried over into actual conduct, 



210 The School as a Social Institution 

that a study of ethics (study implying an intellectual 
point of view) may tend to dissipate that emotional 
accompaniment of moral ideas which is often essential to 
their effectiveness. Apparently then we need to develop 
moral ideas ; but if we make a definite attempt to accom- 
plish this result, the attempt itself may be an easy road to 
failure. Furthermore, if we do not attempt to give the 
kind of instruction that is here called for, we shall also fail 
to develop those moral ideas which we desire. 

Evidently the dilemma may be attacked in various ways, 
beginning with a denial of the assumption that we need to 
develop moral ideas. But such a denial is too 
be attacked absurd to be considered by human beings, whose 
in three chief claim to eminence in this world has, from 
^^^^ time immemorial, been the possibility of attain- 

ing wisdom and virtue. A second form of attack is to deny 
the statement that the road to failure lies by way of the 
definite attempt to develop moral ideas. Those who be- 
lieve that the solution of the problem lies here advocate 
specific work in ethics as a subject of study or at least defi- 
nitely planned attempts to secure a development of moral 
ideas through the situations that arise in school life. If we 
attack the dilemma in the third way we are led to deny the 
validity of the statement that if we do not attempt to give 
the right kind of instruction we shall fail to develop moral 
ideas. In support of this view it may be urged that since 
the random associations of everyday life and the planned 
situations of the school provide a very broad and fertile 
field for the development of conduct and ideas concern- 
ing right and wrong, it is not necessary to give special 
instruction or to attempt to organize the ideas that must 
necessarily result from the give and take of daily association. 

In this very uncertain field the value of a special course 
in morals is one of the most uncertain elements. If the 
work becomes formal, as it is very likely to do if organized 



The School as an Instrument of Control 211 

by the maker of a course of study and presented by another 
person, its worth is trifling or negative. If the 
studies in morals are presented by a person to The value of 
whom they are vital, in whose personality the course in 
pupils find a certain amount of attractiveness, any ^^^f '^ "°" 
good which results is to be attributed less to the 
nature of the prescribed material than to the character of 
the person who presents it. 

One of the important educational questions upon which 
we must have more hght is this problem of the actual value 
of moral instruction. At the present time there 

f li6 wholo 

is little real knowledge of the effects of direct matter is 
instruction in matters of conduct. In such a ™ade diffi- 
phase of the general problem as that of giving i^ckofac- 
instruction concerning the effects of alcohol and curate 
tobacco upon the human body we have little °^ 
scientific information — and much sentiment. How many 
boys (and girls) have been given a desire to smoke 
cigarettes simply from reading about the horrible nature of 
the practice ? Or, on the other hand, how many children have 
been kept from the evils of intemperance through direct in- 
struction in the nature of the effects ? We need to know the 
real answer to such questions before we can proceed with cer- 
tainty in the matter of arranging definite instruction in the 
field of ethics. The actual value of systematic instruction in 
conduct needs to be made the subject of careful investigation. 
In concluding this discussion of the moral significance of 
the course of study, we may emphasize the following ideas. 
First, in view of the fact that character is more 
the result of activity in various forms than the uiym jg not 
outcome of a study about character or about the most 
moral ideas, it must be concluded that the curric- J™tor fn 
ulum (interpreted in the narrow sense of sub- forming 
jects of study rather than in the broader sense of 
the entire range of school activities) is not the factor of 



212 The School as a Social Institution 

greatest importance in moral education. In the second 

place, with respect to the matter of results, we can never 

be absolutely sure that a certain kind of material will 

_ ,^ produce an effect which can be definitely fore- 

Results can ^ . . -^ 

never be told. There is no more certainty that a study 
foretold q£ ^^iq life of Lincoln will make a pupil truly 

with abso- . . I r- ^ 

lute cer- patriotic than there is that learning the multi- 
tainty plication table will make him a mathematician. 

We can be reasonably sure of the tendency of the ma- 
terial to operate in a definite way ; further than that 
the great variation in the character of dif- 
'^f^Vd'^'^^* ferent pupils makes it impossible to go. A 
must be rich third consideration that demands attention is 

enough to il^sit the curriculum shall be rich enough to 
provide . . . ° 

material for afford sufficient variety of material for all shades 
all types of q£ individual differences. It may perhaps be 

pupils . . . y JT r- 

justly inferred that certain materials are appro- 
priate to the majority of normal pupils; but just as 
there has to be adaptation in other fields in order that all 
kinds of children shall have the proper materials for in- 
tellectual development, a corresponding arrangement must 
be made in such a way as to include all that can be used in 
character development. 

The Relation of Methods and Discipline to Moral 

Training 

In another chapter method is described as being con- 
cerned with the problem of how to use the materials of 
education in such a manner as to secure desirable 
Method in- j^f^ds of activity on the part of the pupil. Such 

volves more . . '' . ^ . . 

than the activity may be physical, intellectual, emotional, 
mere use of ciy^Q social, moral. The important fact is that 

matenals ' ' « . . . . 

for the sake practically any form of activity has m it possi- 

of mastery biiities for forming character. We may say, for 
of content *= , "^ ! 

example, that the mere fact that three times 



The School as an Instrument of Control 213 

nine are twenty-seven has no particular moral significance ; 
but nevertheless the activities connected with the learn- 
ing of such a fact may, in the hands of a proper teacher, 
have considerable influence in molding character. The 
manner in which the teacher deals with the process of learn- 
ing even as simple a thing as an addition table is consequently 
of great importance. 

It will be seen then that the type of method which is 
concerned solely with the mastery of the information em- 
bodied in the course of study must be decidedly weak from 
the moral point of view, and that the teacher who sees in 
arithmetic, spelling, or history only a mass of facts to be 
absorbed cannot have a morally efficient method. This 
does not mean a neglect of facts or processes, nor does it im- 
ply any contempt for information or skill as such. How- 
ever, the teacher who is satisfied with mere efficiency in 
spelling the words in a standard list or solving the problems 
in a certain'kind of test, or writing a composition which repre- 
sents a certain point in a scale has overlooked a very im- 
portant part of his work. Standard tests and scales are 
of the greatest importance in judging the efficiency of a 
school ; but the teacher, especially the immature teacher, 
should often be warned against the tendency to think that 
all has been done when the pupils have attained a certain 
standard measured by such tests. Various other matters, 
which are pointed out in the chapter on Method, are also of 
great importance and should not be neglected. 

In this connection the psychologist points out that not 
very much of general value can be expected from mere 
attention to details in their immediate relation- 
ships, but that character-building in a broader fo^'^mus^tbe 
sense is to be sought through the practice of made to se- 
striving to raise desirable habits and attitudes ma^ai 
to the level of ideas. When such ideas are transfer of 
tinged with an adequate amount of suitable *^°^s 



214 The School as a Social Institution 

emotion there is some hope that they will have an influence 
upon conduct. 

Such a subject as history offers a good illustration of the 
psychological principle which is here stated. If the teacher 
of history lays great stress upon the necessity of having 
material which is true and which is accurately stated, he 
may be able to produce in his pupils a development of habits 
or attitudes which reflect his own ideas so far as the work 
in history is concerned ; but there is considerable likelihood 
that what he does will not be transferred to their work in 
other fields. If, however, instead of being merely a teacher 
of his own subject, he tries to raise the practice of seeking 
the truth to the level of conscious purpose, to connect it 
with other phases of hfe, then, if at all, there is hope that a 
wider range of conduct will receive the benefit of the work 
that is done in the history field. 

It is here that a very serious difficulty arises in the develop- 
ment and use of method. If the mastery of subject matter 
is the chief aim considered, it is almost inevitable 
of making ^1^^^ ^^^ method of teaching will fail to rise to the 
method a higher level which has just been described. When 
mere mas- ^^s teacher of arithmetic, spelling, history, or 
tery of con- geography is only a teacher of such and is not 
consciously a worker in a larger field, little can 
be expected in the way of real moral education. The 
stressing of mere induction, deduction, analysis, develop- 
ment, or any other phase of method, while profitable within 
the field to which it is adapted, is not enough in the de- 
velopment of the most efficient method of teaching. To 
all this must be added a certain amount of attention to 
the factors which are broader than any method, but es- 
sential to all true teaching, — the factors which are re- 
lated to character as contrasted with those concerned with 
mere information or knowledge. 

Although the Herbartian method was devised and elabo- 



The School as an Instrument of Control 215 

rated long before the recent attacks upon the general theory 
of inevitable and universal transfer of training ^j^^ method 
from any particular field to any other or to the of Herbart 
whole general field, it is strikingly indicative of upon^the^^ 
Herbart's insight that such ideas as correlation, ideas just 
the building up of general ideas, and the repeated ®™P^*sized 
application of such general ideas in various fields are very 
closely related to the suggestions which psychologists now 
give in regard to securing a certain amount of general value 
from special training. Not so much can be said for the 
Froebelian use of symboHsm or the Pestalozzian doctrine 
of sense training. 

If we now turn from pure method to school discipline 
(which is, in actual practice, most closely connected with it) 
we find a field in which the importance of con- „ ... 
duct is continually magnified although the possi- cipUne is 
bilities of real educational use of the opportunities positive- °ot 

. . . merely 

offered are not always seized and utilized. Dis- negative and 
cipline is too often regarded as a merely negative '■^P^'^ssive 
phase of the teacher's work, needful of attention in order 
to prevent waste of time and energy but unimportant if a 
healthy interest in study keeps the pupil from mischief. 
The idea of discipline as a process of securing desirable in- 
hibitions in the conduct of pupils is so one-sided that it 
tends to obscure the real nature of this phase of school 
work. Real discipline has a positive side and is concerned 
quite as much with what to do as with what not to do. 

One of the great reasons why student self-government, 
as exemplified in the school city or republic, has real value 
is because the scheme of organization gives 
students something to do and something to think self-govern- 
about in a way which is not obviously connected ment as 

• , 1 ,1 . » /> j^ ^ • • 1 seen in the 

With the repressive force oi teacher or principal, school re- 
While a healthy amount of stress is laid upon pubUcor 
that which is not to be done, a large amount of ^'^ °° 



216 The School as a Social Institution 

emphasis is placed upon the idea that certain quahties 
are necessary, that certain kinds of conduct are for the 
good of the school, not merely for the pleasure of the 
teacher. The duties of student officials, the necessity of 
occasional elections, and the making of laws or rules con- 
tinually give the pupils something of a definite and positive 
nature to do ; that is, discipline becomes a matter of doing 
in which the negative side of inhibition is set in its proper 
place of subordination to the positive idea of doing right. 

Student self-government is not necessarily of a definitely 
organized character such as the school republic or city. It 
is quite possible to have the forces of good gov- 
organiza- ernment working effectively in a less formal way 
tion not through enlightened self-interest and proper con- 
sideration for the good of others. The right kind 
of public opinion, the right kind of attitude of pupils toward 
matters of concern to the welfare of the school, is after all 
the most effective means of bringing about desirable con- 
duct. 

The moral value of school discipline, like that of any 
phase of life, is twofold. In the first place there is the direct 
School dis- ^^^^iG of the training that lies in the thing itself, 
cipiinehasa in the Special training which comes through 
mOTai value- i^^^eting various situations which demand some- 
(i) in the thing of moral character. In the second place, 
todrdng there is the possibility of a diffusion or generaliza- 
whichit tion of what is gained in these particular cases, 
^^^ki'the '^^^^ latter type of value, however, is not to be ex- 
possibUity pected as the magical outcome of the first any 
Lg general ^^0^6 than it is to be expected that special atten- 
ideas and tion to some Specific physical habit will have a 
miraculous transfer to every kind of physical ac- 
tivity. As has already been pointed out, it is necessary 
to take pains to rise from the particular to the general. If 
school disciphne remains merely a series of isolated hap- 



The School as an Instrument of Control 217 

penings not harmonized by certain known and desirable 
ends or ideals, it is devoid of a large part of its moral 
significance. 

Such harmonizing general ideas are evidently not to be 
produced by sermonizing. It is rather through the process 
of suggestion which leads to reflection that such develop- 
ment can be expected. Since the American, whether adult 
or child, does not like to be preached at, an attempt to build 
up ideals through such a process is to court failure. There is 
a more excellent way, that of leading from specific doing to 
thoughtful consideration of the general aspects of special 
eases. 

The Importance of the Teacher 

The school has often been criticized on the ground of 
faiHng to provide other than an artificial sort of life remote 
from the actual social conditions which charac- 
terize the world around it. There can be no ^^^^^^ ^^ 
doubt that there is a strong tendency toward such overcoming 
artificiality in all institutions and professions. dency°to- 
In the Church it appears as ecclesiasticism ; in the ward arti- 
law, as legalism ; in medicine, as a similar but ^^ teacher 
nameless tendency. To this general rule the 
school is no exception. But in order to perform its proper 
social service it must to the greatest possible extent rid 
itself of this evil of artificiality. It has already been sug- 
gested that the school must provide a real social milieu. 
Undoubtedly the most important single factor in making 
such a condition a reality is the teacher. Although this 
fact is often overlooked in training, Hcensing, appointing, 
and supervising, it seems so obvious that once it is men- 
tioned any elaboration of the idea is superfluous. 

In every school of a superior type, from the days of Soc- 
rates to the most modern institutions, it is the teacher who 
is the source of moral inspiration and guidance. If that 



218 The School as a Social Institution 

source does not exist, no selection of studies, no refinement 
of method, and no system of organization can 
spiration' make the school truly a moral institution. Where 
and guid- the teacher is a mere source of inhibition, occupied 
come from largely in matters of discipline, with detecting and 
the teacher, punishing deviation from the rules of the school, 
ly from con- little positive moral growth can be expected in 
tent and the lives of the pupils. 

While the importance of the teacher as a source 
of moral inspiration and guidance should be magnified, mere 
personality should not be permitted to become a substitute 
for controlling moral ideas. The child who rises to no 
higher level than that of conforming to certain standards 
because of his regard for the teacher is deprived of one of 
the most important factors in genuine and self-reliant moral 
character. It is therefore the function of the teacher, 
while providing stimulus and guidance, to make himself 
less and less important as an animating force. 

Finally, the teacher is not only the primary source of 
inspiration in matters of conduct but also the greatest force 
in making curriculum and method vital. To 
is the chief translate arithmetic, spelling, composition, Latin 
factor in or English classics, geography, and history into 
rkuium ami terms of real life is ordinarily beyond the capacity 
method of the pupil. But the skillful teacher is able to 
provide situations, atmosphere, or inspiration 
which will make the dead material live. Only through the 
work of such a teacher can the materials of the school have 
the highest moral value. 

Summary 

Social control through the formation of character places 
before the schools of a democracy a problem which can be 
solved only through the effective use of a great variety of 
instrumentalities. Fundamentally the work of control 



The School as an Instrument of Control 219 

must be based upon a group of instincts which are the basis 
of controlling and being controlled. Upon this foundation 
of instinct all the forces at the command of the school must 
work to erect a building of moral character. The spirit 
of the school, the vast amount of subject matter, the ac- 
tivities of method and discipline, and the personality of the 
teacher must combine to accomplish a very complex result. 
School situations, permeated with a social spirit, should 
form the environment in which the various other factors 
may work. The curriculum, presenting the best of human 
experience, affords a type of material through which nature 
may be supplemented and refined. Methods and disci- 
pline merely attempt to make the most effective use of the 
situations and materials offered, so that what is potentially 
inherent in the nature of the school may be adequately 
realized in such activities as will best tend to the develop- 
ment of character. Animating all the other forces and direct- 
ing the entire process of moral training stands the teacher, 
the most important single factor in the whole plan of edu- 
cation. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Adler, Felix, The Moral Instruction of Children. 

Bagley, W. C, Educational Values. Chapters I-VI. 

Barnes, Earl, Children's Ideals. Pedagogical Seminary, VII : 
1-12. April, 1900. 

Bateman, W. G., The Ideals of Some Western Children. Educational 
Review, LI: 21-39. June, 1916. 

Blackmar, F. W., and Gillin, J. L., Outlines of Sociology. Part 
IV, Chapter III, Control by Force; and Chapter IV, The 
Educational Method. 

Brownlee, Jane, Character Building in School. 

Dewey, John, Democracy and Education. Chapter III, Education 
as Direction. 

Dewey, John, Moral Principles in Education. 

Giddings, F. H., The Child as a Member of Society. Teachers Col- 
lege Record, Nov., 1915, pages 21-30. 



220 The School as a Social Institution 

Griggs, E. H., Moral Education. 

Hall, G. S., Adolescence. Chapters X-XV. 

Hall, G. S., Moral Education and Will Training. Pedagogical 

Seminary, II: 72-89. 
Harris, W. T., The Relation of School Discipline to Moral Education. 

Third Yearbook of the National Herbart Society, pages 58-72. 
Henderson, Ernest, Principles of Education. Section 14. 
Holmes, Arthur, Principles of Character Making. 
Johnston, C. H., The Modern High School. Chapter XXIX, 

Moral Agencies Affecting the High School Student. 
King, Irving, Social Aspects of Education. Chapter XVIII, The 

Social Aspects of Mental Development ; and Chapter XX, The 

Corporate Life of the School in Relation to Moral Training. 
MacCunn, J., The Making of Character. 
Monroe, Paul, Editor, Principles of Secondary Education, pages 

272-275, The Moral Aspects of Adolescence; pages 285-292, 

Religious and Moral Aspects of Adolescence ; Chapter VIII, 

Moral and Religious Education; and Chapter XIX, Athletics. 
O'Shea, M. v., Social Development and Education. Chapters XI- 

XV. 
Palmer, G. H., Ethical and Moral Instruction in Schools. 
Parsons, Elsie Clews, Social Rule. 

Ross, E. A., Social Control. Especially Chapter XIV, Education. 
Rousseau, J. J., Emile. Especially Book IV. 
RuGH, C. E., and others, Moral Training in the Public Schools. 
Sadler, M. E., Editor, Moral Instruction and Training in Schools. 
Scott, C. A., Social Education. Chapter XII, The Education of 

the Conscience. 
Smith, W. R., Introduction to Educational Sociology. Chapter XIII, 

The Socialization of Discipline. 
Strayer, George D., The Teaching Process. Chapter XIV, Moral 

Training. 
Spiller, Gustav, Report on Moral Instruction and Moral Training. 

Issued by the International Union of Ethical Societies. 
An extensive bibliography is given in Johnston's The Modern High 

School, pages 817-825. 



CHAPTER IX 
THE SCHOOL AS A COMMUNITY CENTER 



The conception of the school as a social center is born of our 
entire democratic movement. Everywhere we see signs of the 
growing recognition that the community owes to each one of its 
members the fullest opportunity for development. Everywhere 
we see the growing recognition that the community Ufe is defective 
and distorted, excepting as it does thus care for all its constituent 
parts. This is no longer viewed as a matter of charity, but as a 
matter of justice — even as something higher and better than 
justice — a necessary phase of developing and growing life. — John 
Dewey, The School as a Social Center (National Education Asso- 
ciation, 1902), reprinted in King's Social Aspects of Education, 
page 75. 



One of the most significant phases of the educational history 
of the past two decades is the development of the feeling of 
need of various kinds of social work in which the ^, , , 

The school- 
school can be the center. Under pioneer condi- house has 
tions the schoolhouse was often if not always often been a 

/ center, even 

one of the places in which centered the social though the 
activities of the neighborhood. The spelHng school itself 

° . , has not been 

bee, the school exhibition to which all patrons the organiz- 
came, religious services, the annual school- "^^ ^°^'^^ 
meeting, and occasional political gatherings were all of 
distinct social worth. Even though they had no organized 
relation to the daily work of the school itself, they were of 
great value in bringing the school building at least into 
prominence as a place where community spirit could manifest 
itself. Religious organizations which had no place of wor- 

221 



The School as a Social Institution 

ship of their own were generally able to arrange for the use of 
the schoolhouse. In political campaigns the different parties 
were able to carry on some of their educational work by 
having speakers come to the school building to address the 
assembled voters. But even with such outside activities as 
the foregoing there was no consciously directed attempt to 
make the school a real center of the social life of the com- 
munity. What was done was due more to the fact that no 
other place was available than to any idea that the school 
ought to be a social center. 

The Need of Community Centers 

One of the great problems of a democracy is to develop 

that community of spirit which binds the entire population 

into a genuine social body. Since there are in the 

Community ■,■ ■ ■, ■, ■, ■ • ^•l^ ±_ 

spirit is a religious world many creeds, m economic lite great 
definite diversity of interest and consequently much con- 

flict, in politics many parties and opinions, it is 
evident that there is continual need of some harmonizing or 
socializing force. It is possible for a so-called community to 
exist and for many of the individuals in it to prosper without 
an appreciable amount of community spirit ; but such a 
condition leaves much to be desired. Religious jealousies, 
class hatred, and economic rivalry may rend a neighborhood 
without making such conditions seem intolerable to the 
people affected. In fact, the whole course of history seems 
to show that such are normal conditions of human life. 
Such harmony as has existed has generally been the result 
of the dominance of one group of the population over all 
the rest rather than that free and harmonious working 
together which is the ideal of democracy. 

Individualism, in the sense that each is free to 

Extreme ■■ • j i j. i, • i x • 

individual- S^ his own way and work out his own salvation 

ism is an as best he may, is but a negative remedy for the 

evils of class domination. The manifold kinds of 



The School as a Community Center 223 

interdependence which characterize modern Ufe show the 
weakness of extreme individuaHsm and suggest the necessity 
of developing a social spirit which will preserve all the good 
of individuaHsm while destroying the evils of isolation. 

There is then need of conscious ejffort to develop centers 
which will devote themselves to the work of creat- There is 
ing a stronger social spirit, of counteracting the need of 
evils of extreme individuahsm, of binding together j°™g ^^^ 
more closely all the elements of the community, create a 
However, the fact that there is such a group of sodafTpirit 
needs does not throw any light upon the problem to counter- 
of discovering or creating the most adequate orextreme^ 
institution for rendering the required service, individuai- 
The reasons for regarding the school as one of such ^elements 
institutions, if not the only one, will be discussed more closely 
later. *°«"*'^ 

Before taking up the discussion of the reasons why the 
school should assume the burden of providing a social 
center, we must add to the statement of the general need 
for social centers a few details in regard to the special needs 
of the large city, the small city or town, and the rural 
community. 

In a large city one of the most striking peculiarities is the 
large amount of practical isolation. In contrast with a 
small town in which every one is familiar with the 
affairs of nearly every one else and in which there ^) there is 
is generally much of neighborly interest, the city °iuch actual 

,1 • r X 1 • isolation ; 

is a place where every one is tree to go his own 
way, not only without interference on the part of others but 
also without interest. In many ways this is a very desirable 
condition ; but when it is carried to an extreme it runs con- 
trary to one of the most important human instincts, 
sociability. For thousands of people in our larger cities 
the problem of breaking down the barriers of isolation is 
one of great concern. 



224 The School as a Social Institution 

There is also the problem of leisure. Even an over- 
worked employee in modern industry has some time which he 

(2) the rof- ^^ ^^* compelled to devote to his work or his imme- 
itable use diate personal needs. It is true that the city offers 
of leisure is thousands of diversions for the idle moments 

an impor- 
tant prob- of every class of people ; and in addition to such 

^^^'' amusements there are many institutions which 

try to reach various groups of the population and furnish 
them with something of a constructive or developing char- 
acter for their leisure. Still there are thousands of people 
who have nothing better to do than go to the saloon, to the 
motion picture show, or the street corner. Many who are 
not attracted by the saloon, who cannot afford to patronize 
forms of entertainment which establish a drain on the 
income, or who have no special ambition for self-improvement 
stay at home and fritter away their leisure at such occupa- 
tions as desultory reading, random conversation, smoking, 
and the like. For many such people, if not all, some kind 
of social center meets a real need. 

A third problem which may be mentioned in this connec- 
tion is that of breaking down the barriers which separate 

, , , class from class. Although it is true that there 

(3) class . . ° . . 

lines sug- is as yet no universal recognition of the need or 
gest the even of the desirability of such a social work, it 

need of a . '' . ' 

unifying must be evident to every thoughtful believer 

work; -j^ (Jemocracy that even in a country like ours 

there is too much of opposition and suspicion between class 

and class. This means that some kind of social center, 

where all can meet on a common level of sociability and 

cooperative effort to realize common aims, is greatly to be 

desired. 

In the large city the need of adult education is also likely 

to be seen with clearness. The thousands of aliens who 

settle in the great centers of population are beyond the 

reach of the school as it is generally organized ; but their 



The School as a Community Center 225 

need of education, whether they feel it or not, is not to be 
measured by what the ordinary school system 
does for them. For the good of society in gen- (4) the edu- 
eral, it is wise that they be taught the essentials adults de- 
of American citizenship, the significance of Ameri- ^^^^ ^^- 
can ideals, and the meaning and art of modern 
sanitation ; to which may be added various matters of 
utilitarian or cultural value. 

In small towns and villages the actual need of some kind 
of general social center is probably as great as in the great 
city although not as apparent. There is great 
variation in the character of small towns ; but similar con- 
it may safely be said that the clannishness |^'^°°^ ^^^t 
which causes certain types of people to form alien smaller 
centers in American cities is frequently seen, al- *°''"^^ 
though in a different form, in many of our little cities and 
towns. In earlier days when religious antagonisms were 
stronger, denominational lines were quite as likely to inter- 
fere with real socialization as national or racial lines are 
now. Even with the growth of tolerance there is still too 
much of the old feeling of separateness. 

There seems to be a general belief that true neighborliness 
and genuine sociability exist in a larger way in the small 
town than in the large city. This may be true ; but there is 
probably something of illusion in the idea, due to the fact 
that the proportion of persons whom one knows in a friendly 
way is much greater in the smaller place than in the larger. 
Furthermore, a social event in a small town is likely to mean 
much more and be remembered much longer than a similar 
function among the very numerous activities of a large city. 
It may be that we have here an illusion similar to that which 
occurs when we try to estimate weights or any kind of 
values. If two objects of about the same weight (the number 
of friends whom one has and the total population of a small 
town) are compared ; and then one of these is compared 



226 The School as a Social Institution 

with another much greater (a Hke number of friends and the 

total population of a great city), the object which at first 

seemed relatively quite heavy seems very light by contrast. 

At any rate it seems likely that the ordinary small town or 

village would profit considerably if it could have some kind 

of center of social life. 

In the rural districts there is often such barrenness of 

social life that living on the farm becomes monotonous 

and intolerable. It is true that the improved 
The rural j. • , • i • i i i 

community nieans 01 communication which have charac- 
has special terized the past few years have tended to help 
remedy this condition ; but even yet the problem 
of enriching the social side of country life has not been com- 
pletely solved. With these changes there has been an 
increasing tendency for certain elements of the rural popula- 
tion to gravitate toward the town, there has been an in- 
crease in tenantry, and there has been a change in the 
character of the tenants. From 1880 to 1910 the percentage 
of tenant farms in the United States increased from about 
twenty-five to thirty-seven. The number of foreign-born 
persons, constituting a difficult problem in the cities, has 
come to affect even the agricultural states very noticeably. 
With the exception of the southern group there is hardly a 
state in the entire Union in which the percentage of whites of 
foreign birth combined with native whites of foreign or 
mixed parentage is less than twenty-five. All this means 
that some of the work of socialization and Americanization 
of adults, which was discussed under the needs of the city, 
is to be required of the country. The old days of relative 
homogeneity of population can be restored only through 
a thorough amalgamation of the alien elements. 

In summing up the kind of work which the school must 
do as a social center, Professor John Dewey says that it 
*' must provide, at least, part of that training which is 
necessary to keep the individual properly adjusted to a 



The School as a Community Center 227 

rapidly changing environment. It must interpret to him 
the intellectual and social meaning of the work in which he is 
engaged ; that is, must reveal its relations to the hfe and 
work of the world. It must make up to him in part for the 
decay of dogmatic and fixed methods of social discipline. 
It must supply him compensation for the loss of reverence 
and influence of authority. And, finally, it must provide 
means for bringing people and their ideas and beliefs together, 
in such ways as will lessen friction and instability and 
introduce deeper sympathy and wider understanding." 
(The School as a Social Center, in Report of the National 
Education Association, 1902.) 

Obstacles to the Development of Community Centers 

Much that has been said in regard to the need for social 
centers may be interpreted as a statement of the obstacles 
which hinder their development. Thus the 
classes, the existence of which calls for some J^® follow- 
large kind of social work, are in themselves a cies exist : 
barrier against the creation of the thing that is ^^^^^ 
needed for their destruction. Likewise, the intolerance, 
intolerance which is often characteristic of class 
and of individual is one of the greatest difficulties to be 
overcome in the organization and perpetuation of a com- 
munity center. The desire to be heard is not always ac- 
companied by a willingness to hear the other side. Those 
social centers which attempt to maintain forums in which 
divergent views may be freely expressed are in continual 
danger of being wrecked on the rocks of intolerance. 
Another hindrance which is of tremendous weight human 
is the mere inertia of humanity in the mass, inertia, 
It seems to be a fact that the person who most needs 
broad social influences is the very one to desire them least 
or oppose them most. In addition to all this, it lact of 
is difficult to discover or develop suitable leaders leadership, 



228 The School as a Social Institution 

for carrying on the work of the social center, — enthusiasm, 
intelligence, tact, and perseverance combined in the right 
and proportion being very hard to find in most com- 

isolation munities. In many rural districts another barrier 
to be mentioned is isolation, no explanation of which is 
necessary. 

Should the School be a Socl^.l Center for Adults 

In a very fundamental sense the school is 'par excellence 
the social center of the community; for here is carried on 
the greatest social work, that of educating the 
of the school rising generation, and here center the interests 
suggests the of all who have children or who have a deep 
of general regard for their welfare. Furthermore, much 
commxinity that is done for the pupils has a more or less 
direct effect upon the homes from which they 
come ; for example, medical inspection of schools, instruction 
in regard to care of eyes, teeth, and health in general, and 
many of the habits and ideals that are developed in the 
ordinary course of instruction. But the assumption of the 
burden of carrying on social work for adults is quite another 
matter. In order to solve that problem it is necessary to 
consider what other agencies might reasonably be expected 
to do the work, what obligation the school has, and what 
equipment it has or can reasonably be expected to secure for 
such activities. 

The institution which is immediately suggested as suit- 
able for doing a large social work for adults is the Church. 
On account of its purpose and organization it is 
The Church evident that there is good reason for looking to 

as now . 1 . , . 1 1 • 

organized it to render much social service ; and where it 

cannot be a j^g^g outgrown the medieval idea that its sole 

center for ° ^ 

more than a concem is with the world to come, it is generally 

part of the (Joing its share of such work. With the exception 
community ^ ^ 

of those communities in which there is a single 



The School as a Community Center 229 

church, however, no reUgious , organization can be the 
center. In nearly every neighborhood it is unfortunately 
true that there are persons who do not seem to have any very 
strong religious incUnations; or at any rate they are not 
reached by the Church except in the most indirect way. It 
may be that sociahzing the Church will mean reaching a 
larger number of such people ; but in its progress up to the 
present time, it has been true that there are large numbers 
who apparently cannot be reached. To the extent that a 
religious atmosphere and a religious purpose are an obstacle, 
such people may be set down as not likely to come within 
the range of the social activities of the Church. 

In those communities in which there are several churches, 
the very existence of denominational lines generally serves 
to make it difficult or impossible for any sect to be a general 
centralizing force ; although each would be willing to per- 
form that function. As long as local rehgious rivalries 
exist, each sect is more likely to be an isolated group in 
itself than to be a community center. However, the move- 
ment toward church unity which has been making consider- 
able progress during the past quarter century may remove 
this obstacle to the greater service of the Church as a social 
institution. 

When we look for other institutions which can be expected 
to carry on community social work, we fail to discover any 
that give much promise. In the large cities, it is 
true, there are many social settlements which are Jhe school 

, IS the most 

doing much for the socialization of the classes available 

which they reach ; but it is hardly to be expected community 
that their labors will be extended to the small 
cities and the country. We find ourselves, then, indulging 
in the universal practice of turning to the school when 
there is work which no other institution is doing ade- 
quately. 
The fact that the regular work of the school makes it the 



230 The School as a Social Institution 

real social center of the community has already been men- 
tioned. But such work does not use the equipment to its 
full capacity. Much has been said in recent years concern- 
ing the anomaly of an expensive equipment which 

It already ^.j^g community provides but uses only a fraction 
has much of ^ '^ "^ 

the neces- of the potentially available time. Even in those 

sary equip- favored places where the school is in session ten 
ment ^ 

or eleven months of the year, the actual time in 

which its equipment is in use is less than two thirds of the 

three hundred sixty-five days ; and during the time when it 

is in session only a fraction of the day is utilized. Saturdays, 

Sundays, hohdays, and evenings generally represent the time 

in which an equipment, the estimated value of which for the 

whole United States is one and a half billion dollars, makes 

no return to society for the investment made. 

As the school building with its equipment is public prop- 
erty, it is but natural to expect that it shall be available 
for carrying on all kinds of social activities which do not 
interfere with its function of providing education for the 
children of the district and which are fairly well adapted to 
the type of equipment which it offers. Of the increase or 
modification of this equipment more will be said under 
another head. (See pages 246-249.) 

A supplementary reason which is urged for the use of the 

school as a center for the wider social work is that such a 

course tends to increase the interest of people 

Increased generally in the essential activities of the school. 

interest in " "^ 

the school While the education of their children is one of the 

™*t d^if^^t ^^^^ important concerns of the people in general, 
is made a it is hardly true that their interest in the school 
commumty jg commensurate in intelligence or amount with the 

center ° 

importance of that work. Where the building 

and equipment are used by a large number of parents for 

social and educational purposes it is but natural that the 

interest in the school itself shall increase. 



The School as a Community Center 231 

A final argument for the use of the school building as a 
social center is based upon the fact already mentioned that 
of all the cooperative activities of the community, ^ . ,. . 

^ -' ' Education is 

education is the one which comes most closely to the one 
all. "It is where the children spend a large ™^**^'^"^ 
portion of the day. The interests engendered nearly all are 
there are often carried back and discussed in the "^*®''^sted 
home. A certain common interest in the school and its 
work is thus the only existing point of contact between the 
majority of the members of the community. It thus be- 
comes a place toward which all may naturally turn, and 
which can more effectively than any other agency unite the 
community in a healthful social life." (King, Social Aspects 
of Education, page 95.) 

The answer then to the question, Should the school be 
a social center for adults? seems clearly to be affirmative. 
The opportunities for recreation, for social intercourse, and 
for education beyond the years of ordinary school life can 
best be afforded there. It is not necessary for the school 
to encroach upon the field of j the Church as there is more 
than enough for both to do. The investment which society 
has made in buildings and equipment calls for a greater 
return than is to be secured from the fraction of the day and 
year in which the regular work of instruction is carried on. 
The interest of the citizens at large in educational matters 
is hkely to be greater if they have that closer connection with 
the school which is the result of its use as a social center. And 
finally the close relation between the school and the famihes 
of the district points out the natural center for the adminis- 
tration of a large number of community activities. 

Growth of the School Community Center Movement 

As shown in the preceding discussion there are at least three 
phases of the work of the school as a social center: the 
education of adults, provision for recreation, and opportuni- 



232 The School as a Social Institution 

ties for social intercourse. Historically and logically the 
first of these led the way for the others. 

The School as an Educational Center for Adults. As 
adults are not usually free to attend classes during the 
working day, their education is generally assisted 
muni^^en- ^^ evening schools. This movement has been 
ter, (i) the developing for practically a century ; although 
undertaken ^^^re has been no very great progress until recently, 
the work of Many of the earlier evening schools were planned 
adults*-"^ quite as much for children as for adults. As long 
ago as 1833 the city of New York had free eve- 
ning schools which were supported in part from the public 
treasury. In 1847 the state legislature empowered the city 
to expend $6000 annually for the support of evening schools 
for males. The success of these institutions, to which admis- 
sion was refused to thousands, led to a larger appropriation 
in 1848 with authority to open evening schools for women 
and girls. About twenty years later (1866) the city opened 
its first high school, an evening school. This work continues 
to the present. 

New York City was not the first, however, to provide a 
free public high school, Cincinnati having opened one in 
1856. Many other cities also experimented with the idea of 
free evening schools for elementary, secondary, or practical 
education. According to statistics of the United States 
Bureau of Education, there were 32 cities with evening schools 
in 1881, 165 in 1900, and 233 in 1909. The total enrollment 
in 1909 was nearly four hundred thousand, an increase of 
about forty per cent in five years. 

The classes of people reached by the evening school are as 
follows : (1) those who have not received a satisfactory ele- 
mentary education, this class constituting probably eighty- 
five per cent of the total enrollment. Both native Americans 
and foreigners are in this group. (2) Young people who have 
completed the work of the elementary school and sometimes 



The School as a Community Center 233 

part of the work of the high school, who, for a great variety 
of reasons, desire to complete their formal education by way 
of preparing for college or of receiving technical and trade 
training. (3) Men in business who wish training along 
special hnes. (Article on Evening Schools by A. J. Jones, 
in Monroe's Cyclopedia of Education.) 

The significance of the development of the evening school 
in its relation to the wider utilization of the school plant lies 
in the fact that it prepares the way for other activities. 
Once the principle is estabhshed that the school building and 
equipment are not solely for use as day schools for children 
it is an easier matter to proceed to develop social and rec- 
reational activities with the school as a center. 

Public Lectures. The aim of the free public lecture 
system, in the words of Dr. Henry M. Leipziger who has 
developed that work in New York City, is as 
follows : " It is to afford to as many as possible ^^^ }^ ^^^ 

"^ ^ provided 

the fruits of a Uberal education, to make education courses of 
a Ufe purpose, to apply the best methods of study f^gg*! *®*^' 
to the problems of daily life, so to create in our 
citizens a sound public opinion. . . . The definite purpose 
is to arrange these courses of lectures systematically to 
stimulate study, to cooperate with the public library, to 
encourage discussion ; or, in other words, to bring the best 
teachers to bear upon this problem of the diffusion of culture 
among all citizens." (From a lecture on School Extension 
and Adult Education, in The Addresses of the Lewis and 
Clark Educational Congress, Portland, 1905.) 

The nature of the work depends largely upon the com- 
munity in which the lectures are given ; but in a large way 
the material covers almost everything of interest to adult 
human beings. In the course of a year's lectures in New York 
City nearly two thousand different topics are presented, a num- 
ber so great that mere enumeration is an overwhelming task. 
While in smaller cities, especially in those which are not the 



234 The School as a Social Institution 

seats of institutions of higher learning, it is difficult if not 
impossible to have this wide range of topics, it is still possible 
for almost any community to secure from v/ithin and without 
the persons who can give the kinds of lectures which are of 
most importance and interest to its citizens. Perry, in a 
very suggestive list of topics, shows that there are available 
for practically any community lecturers for a range of 
subjects great enough to satisfy its needs. State and mu- 
nicipal officials, school superintendents, principals and 
teachers, physicians, business men, clergymen, editors, 
lawyers, and local organizations such as camera clubs, 
good government clubs, and charity organizations, all 
may be brought into the service where an adequate social 
spirit exists or can be aroused. (Appendix A, The Wider 
Use of the School Plant.) 

The relation of free public lectures to the school is one of 
great value as a means of giving patrons broader ideas of its 
functions. In this manner the way may be prepared for the 
use of school equipment for various social purposes and the 
adaptation of the school building to other uses than mere 
classroom work. Dr. Leipziger says that " the movement 
of adult education not alone gives a new interpretation to 
education and the teacher, but a new; type of schoolhouse 
which is to be open not only for a few hours daily, but at 
all times, and to be a place not only for the instruction of 
children, but for the education of men and women ; so that 
there should be in each modern schoolhouse a proper 
auditorium, with seats for adults and equipped with 
apparatus for scientific lectures, and proper means for 
illustration." {Op. cit.) 

Free public lectures maintained as a part of the wider work 
of the school are of the highest social value; since they 
bring the best of modern culture within the reach of all, 
making it possible to give to those whose school days are 
over the benefits of the progress of science and helping pre- 



The School as a Community Center 235 

vent that intellectual fossilization which is a continual 
menace to society. They help " make the pubUc school 
everybody's house " and bring the people to look upon it as 
a " training place in which everybody is interested." In 
the words of Dr. Leipziger, " The toilers will jBnd in adult 
education the stimulus for the gratification of their intellec- 
tual desires, and a larger world is given them in which to 
live. The best characters in literature will influence them, 
their daily labor will be dignified, new joy will come into 
their lives from this association with science, literature, and 
art ; and they will find that true happiness does not come 
from wealth, but from sympathy with the best things in 
art, and with love of nature." 

As has already been said, the use of the public school for 
lectures for adults, like its use for evening classes, is an 
important step toward a realization of the opportunities for 
social service which potentially exist in the investment which 
society makes for juvenile education and in the equipment 
which is too often used solely for that work. 

Evening Recreation Centers. The privileges generally 
afforded by an evening recreation center are the use of the 
gymnasium, of rooms for reading or quiet games, 
and of meeting places for clubs, together with established 
the necessary direction for the proper enjoyment recreation 
of each of them. New York City, with its *^ ° '^ ' 
tremendous problem of dance halls, street corners, saloons, 
and worse places, has done much in the development of the 
idea of suitable recreation for young people and adults. The 
first of the recreation centers in this city were established in 
1899, since when there has been a development which now 
makes it possible to offer to thousands the opportunity to 
have wholesome recreation under the very best auspices. 
" Twenty out of the fifty-four centers maintained in Greater 
New York at the present time (season of 1912-13) are for 
the exclusive use of women and girls. In their athletic 



236 The School as a Social Institution 

activities folk dancing has a prominent place, but they also 
enjoy basket ball and, in general, enjoy the same privi- 
leges as the boys. Clubs whose mem^bers are sixteen 
years or over in age are known as senior clubs, and in 
several of the girls' centers the senior clubs are allowed to 
hold weeldy dancing classes to which properly accredited 
boys from the neighboring centers are invited. These 
parties are under the supervision of the center staff and, with 
the exception of a small fee (generally five cents) paid by the 
guests for the services of a vioHnist to supplement the regular 
pianist, are free to the participants. The senior clubs of 
both classes of centers hold entertainments, debates, and 
athletic contests to which the pubhc is admitted, but these 
are the only occasions on which both sexes come together. 
The centers are open from 7.30 o'clock to 10 every evening 
except Sundays and holidays throughout their season, which 
opens in October and lasts through April, and in a few centers 
to June. The average nightly attendance, which was 9545 
in 1907, had increased to 20,085 in 1911." (Monroe's 
Cyclopedia of Education, article on School as Social Center, 
by C. A. Perry.) 

Social Centers. A type of development which is very 
closely allied to the recreation center is that which is called 
, - . , the social center. Probably the best example 

become a of the growth of this idea is to be found in the 
social center ^j^y ^f Rochester, N. Y. The origin and pur- 
pose of this work are described in a pamphlet on "Rochester 
Social Centers and Civic Clubs," by E. J. Ward : "It was 
decided in a joint meeting of the Board of Educa- 
Deveiop- ^^^^ ^^^ ^^le School Extension Committee that 

ment of the 

idea in the spirit that should be striven for in the Social 

Rochester, Centers should be the democratic, friendly spirit 
of broad acquaintanceship, which made ' The 
Little Red Schoolhouse' in the country the fine gathering 
place that it was." About this time there appeared in one 



The School as a Community Center 237 

of the magazines an article upon the evening uses of the 
schoolhouse in a village community. In that article the 
kindly neighborhood spirit which was developed in these 
schoolhouse meetings, social and poHtical, was described. In 
connection with this description the author asserted that 
there is no such spirit of community interest, no such 
neighborly feeling, no such democracy as the village had, 
in any American city, and there never can be such a spirit 
of community interest, such neighborly spirit, such democ- 
racy, until some institution is developed in the midst of 
our complex city hfe in which people of all races, classes and 
parties shall find a common gathering place, a common 
means of acquaintance, and opportunity to learn to think 
in terms of the city as a whole — until there is developed 
an institution which shall serve the people in the city as the 
Little Red Schoolhouse served the folks back home. . . . 

" The social center was not to take the place of any exist- 
ing institution ; it was not to be a charitable medium for the 
service particularly of the poor ; it was not to be a new kind 
of evening school ; it was not to take the place of any church 
or other institution of moral uplift ; it was not to serve sim- 
ply as an ' Improvement Association ' by which the people in 
one community should seek only the welfare of their district; 
it was not to be a ' Civic Forum ' organization pledged to 
some change in citj' or state or national administration ; it 
was just to be the restoration to its true place in social life 
of that most democratic of all institutions, the Public School 
Center, in order that through this extended use of the school 
building might be developed, in the midst of our complex life, 
the community interest, the neighborly spirit, the democracy 
which we knew before we came to the city." 

A beginning was made in a school situated in what 
would be called a middle class neighborhood. Gymnasium 
apparatus was placed in the assembly hall ; shower baths 
were installed ; the kindergarten was transformed into a 



238 The School as a Social Institution 

reading and quiet-games room; five hundred books were 
borrowed from Albany ; and iron gates were provided to 
separate that part of the building which was to be used from 
the rest. 

The building was open to girls and women two nights of 
the week, to men and boys three nights, while the remaining 
evening was given over to a general entertainment in the 
auditorium, to which all classes were admitted. The men's 
club took up the discussion of various municipal problems and 
heard addresses by prominent persons from outside. The 
women's club took up public and domestic topics and 
occasionally entertained the men's club. Both organizations 
assisted in securing playgrounds, dental clinics, and various 
other community improvements. The work expanded in 
the following year to two other centers, one in a wealthy 
neighborhood, the other in a poorer section of the city. 
Not without difficulties and dissension the idea secured 
proper support, and the work of the social centers was 
placed upon a firm basis. 

In other cities, such as Chicago, Philadelphia, Boston, 
Louisville, and about a hundred others, similar work has 
0th "ti been begun and is now being conducted success- 
have done fully. In the Chicago public school centers 
similar work u ^^^ attempt [has been made to restrict the rec- 
reational activities to those that stimulate development of 
mind as well as body." This suggests the general attitude 
toward the nature of the work. The social center is to be 
regarded as a place not for mere pastime of any sort what- 
soever, but more especially for such forms of social activity 
and recreation as will result in improvement. This is an 
important phase in the development of the idea of social 
centers ; since it shows that the conception which dominates 
the school, that is, education, is transferred to the activities 
which are developing around it as a result of the demand 
for social centers. 



The School as a Community Center 239 

The development of the movement has not been 'confined 
to the cities but has spread to small towns and to the country. 
In view of the statement of the origin of the 
Rochester social centers, it might be better le^siation* 
to say that the idea spread from country to has been 
city. At any rate there is a noticeable tend- gome states, 
ency at present to make wider use of the school to the end 
building and equipment in the country as well school may 
as in the city. In Pennsylvania the school law have a wide 

SOCifll US6 

permits the board of school directors to grant 
the use of school grounds and buildings for social, rec- 
reational, and other proper purposes. In Oregon, school- 
houses may, with careful restrictions, be used for any proper 
purpose, " giving equal rights and privileges to all religious 
denominations or political parties." The Kentucky law 
permits the use of the school building by " any lawful 
assembly of educational, rehgious, agricultural, political, 
civic, or social bodies." 

So much progress has been made, so much attention has 
been directed to the possibility of the wider use of the 
school plant, that it is proper now to speak of a public 
school community center movement. What was once done 
mthout conscious recognition of the idea that the school 
is a natural social center of the community has been continued 
or revived and modified to suit the various conditions of the 
present. Whether it be due to the atmosphere of the school 
or to an instinctive desire for improvement, the growth of 
the movement has been toward profitable utilization of 
leisure rather than toward the development of a mere 
place for random social intercourse or idle pastime. Of the 
kinds of work actually carried on more will be said in a later 
discussion. 

In taking a comprehensive view of the growth of the 
movement toward the conception of the school as a center 
of a wide social work, we find that the beginnings are gener- 



240 The School as a Social Institution 

ally made by opening the school building to adults for evening 
classes and for public lectures. With a growing 
^f th™°^"^ sense of the possibilities which the school equip- 
growth of ment offers for various kinds of activities of social 
the move- yalue there comes a demand for permission to use 

ment . . ^ 

this equipment for purposes of recreation as well 

as for instruction. When all these various types of activities 

are organized in some rational manner to suit local needs the 

school becomes a real social center. 

In this connection we may also summarize the various 
kinds of social and community activities which are coming 
to center in the schoolhouse. The social, the cultural, and 
the recreational aspects have been most emphasized ; but 
there now seems to be a possibility that a great variety of 
civic activities may find in the school building a proper loca- 
tion. It has long been the custom in many rural com- 
munities to permit the use of the schoolhouse for political 
meetings, no other place being available. There seems to be 
no good reason why the cities should not follow this example, 
proper restrictions being maintained. The use of the school 
building for election purposes is another possibility in the city 
as it already is very often in the country. It has even been 
suggested that the state maintain employment agencies 
for the benefit of all citizens as a part of this wider social 
use of the school plant. 

In a study of The Extension of Public Education made by 
C. A. Perry for the United States Bureau of Education in 
The extent 1915, there were noted 603 cities which reported 
of the move- some form of extension activities in connection 
™®° with the schools. Of these cities, 129 reported 

social centers ; 289 mentioned lectures ; and 294 reported 
miscellaneous activities. But as it was impossible to secure 
complete data these figures represent less than the actual 
development of the movement. The activities which have 
the largest place are athletics, gymnastics, bathing, active 



The School as a Community Center 241 

games, and folk dancing; the group next in rank is that 
of clubs (social, athletic, etc.) or groups (musical, 
handicraft, etc.) ; while the following activities the char- 
come in the order indicated : quiet games, reading **^*®^ °^ *^® 
or study ; social dancing ; lectures ; entertain- 
ments, concerts, etc. ; society meetings for adults ; civic 
occasions, mass meetings, and public discussions ; and social 
occasions, parties, and banquets. (P. 46.) 

In regard to the use of school buildings by rehgious 
organizations. Perry reports that there is no new tendency 
discernible, the greatest variety of practice prevailing. " In 
isolated communities of a common rehgious persuasion school 
buildings have always been and are still used more or less 
frequently by sectarian organizations ; but that such use is 
on the increase or on the wane cannot be confidently stated." 
{Op. cit., page 55.) The use of school buildings for political 
purposes, however, is reported as being on the increase. 
Especial mention is made of the city of Chicago, in which 142 
school buildings were used for political meetings (spring elec- 
tion of 1914), four fifths of which were under partisan aus- 
pices ; while 75 school buildings were used as polUng places. 

The outlook for the future promises an in- 
creased and systematic extension of activities 
along the following lines : — 

1. Purveying beneficial amusements to those who are pre- 
vented by fatigue from engaging in active play and who otherwise 
might receive their satisfaction at the hands of unscrupulous 
vendors. 

2. Stimulating the growth of those groups which are capable 
of self -organization and government by furnishing them with meet- 
ing places. 

3. Promoting the formation and vigor of groups which might 
be incited to self-expression by furnishing quarters and leadership. 
(Op. cit., page 64.) 

Conditions in the cities are paralleled by the changes that 
are being made in the country ; in rural districts there is a 



242 The School as a Social Institution 

growing recognition of the unrealized possibilities of the 
school and an increased effort to make the most of them. 
Evidence of this is seen in farmers' clubs, parents-teachers' 
aissociations, corn clubs, and a great variety of organizations 
which make use of the school building as a center. The 
school-farm movement is another indication of a closer 
relationship between the school and the community. In 
addition to various special kinds of activities which center 
in the school, there has already begun, in some sections of 
the country, a movement toward that coordination or 
unification which will make the country school a real social 
center. 

The Administration of Extension Activities 

The evolution of the wider use of the school plant affords 

a beautiful illustration of the general course of progress 

from the purely voluntary to the municipal or 

Four stages t:- ^ j x- 

of develop- civic. In the present state of the development 
mentare Qf ^[jg movement it is possible to observe the 

noticeable ; . „ 

various stages that mark such a transition from 
random and sporadic effort to the systematic and con- 
trolled. In this process of evolution four steps are notice- 
able. 

First, there is an entirely voluntary initiative and sup- 
port of such activities as clubs of various kinds, play- 
(i) Purely grounds, and social centers. This form of ad- 
voiuntary ministration is seen in Allentown, Pa., Wheehng, 
effort; West Va., and Youngstown, Ohio, where the 

local playground association provides a supervisor and sup- 
ports social centers in public schools. ( U. S. Bureau of 
Education Bulletin, 1915, No. 28.) In Trenton, N. J., the 
social center league is the voluntary organization, which, 
with the cooperation of principals and teachers, assumes the 
burden. 

A second stage is that of administration by a school board 



The School as a Community Center 243 

committee with citizen cooperation. In Plainfield, N. J., a 
citizens' committee in which the board of educa- 
tion is represented employs the supervisor of the (2) coopera- 
extension work and supervises the activities, part tween 
of the necessary funds being provided.by the school f^^^*^ 
board. In Louisville, Ky., where the various citizens; 
social centers are maintained by local organiza- 
tions, there is a " Social Center Council " the membership of 
which is composed of two representatives from each local 
center, a member of the board of education, the superintend- 
ent of schools, the business director of the board, and the 
volunteer director of social centers. Heat, hght, janitor 
service, and a liberal amount of equipment are provided by 
the board of education. 

Under a third kind of arrangement a municipal body 
other than the board of education has charge of the general 
extension of the various kinds of social, rec- 
reational, and educational work. In Phil- ^y so^e ° 
adelphia, there is a municipal recreation com- municipal 
mittee, which carries on the work formerly con- than the " 
ducted by the Home and School League. In board of 
Kansas City, Mo., the pubhc welfare board 
cooperates with the board of education in the conduct of 
miscellaneous meetings, entertainments, and club activities 
in schoolhouses. 

A fourth state of development is to be seen in those cities 
in which the board of education has charge of the activities 
which we have been discussing. As the rec- 
reational and social work is fundamentally educa- control by 
tional in the highest and best sense, it is very tbe school 
fitting that the board of education, rather than 
some other body, municipal or voluntary, should have charge 
of it. There is as yet no uniformity in the manner in which 
this control by educational authorities is exercised. In 
Superior, Wis., a grade teacher, specially employed to give 



244 The School as a Social Institution 

part time to social center supervision, has charge of each 
center. In Pittsburgh, Pa., the director of the evening 
schools has charge of the extension work. In Chicago and 
Rochester, an assistant superintendent of schools gives 
part of his time to the conduct of social and recreational 
centers. A director of extended use of schools, working 
directly under the superintendent of schools, is employed in 
Boston. The work of social and recreational centers is 
separate from that of pubhc lectures in New York City; 
although both are under the control of the board of educa- 
tion. There is a department of public lectures whose 
supervisor reports directly to the board of education just 
as the city superintendent does; while the work of the 
recreation centers, vacation schools, and school playgrounds 
is assigned to a district superintendent, and after-school play 
centers are conducted by the director of physical training, — 
both of whom are under the city superintendent. 

It is not to be understood that the four stages of develop- 
ment of the administration of the wider work of the school 
are very definitely marked, with the possible exception of the 
first stage, in which it is very evident that the administration 
is voluntary. Even in this initial stage the cooperation of 
the board of education is essential. When the development 
has reached the level where support and control are quite 
clearly official rather than voluntary, the latter element is 
still very necessary. Even in New York City, where the 
board of education is doing a large work of this kind, there 
are many community centers maintained by local organiza- 
tions, — the People's Institute, several social centers, and 
various voluntary societies furnishing the expert leadership. 

In the small town and the rural district a very great deal 
depends upon the teacher. If the school is to be a center 
of community life, it seems inevitable that the initiative 
shall be taken by the teacher and much of the work be 
conducted largely if not wholly under his supervision or at 



The School as a Community Center 245 

his suggestion. That this is a burden too great for a person 
trained only to give instruction and maintain disciphne is 
obvious. Even where the teacher's training and 
interests give him a broad social outlook it can ^°^ *^® ®™^ 

° community 

hardly be expected that he shall do the work of much de- 
giving the children of the community their cultural 1*^° *lg "?°° 
inheritance and also that he shall act as expert 
leader in the social, recreational, and educational activities 
of the neighborhood. There is no doubt, however, that the 
zeal and self-sacrificing spirit of teachers really trained for 
work in the country or in the small town will lead them to do 
more than can reasonably be expected. In the course of a 
generation it may be possible to develop a type of leadership 
and cooperation which will secure what the community 
needs without overburdening the teacher. The growing 
interest in the social work of the country church may prove 
of great value in the solution of the problem. 

The ideal of development is not what the school or the 
Church can do for the community, but rather what these or 
other organizations can inspire the people to do for 
themselves. The rural teacher who goes into a The chief 

... problem is 

district with the ideal of uplifting and socializing to inspire 

the community singlehanded will fail just as the *^® 1°™." 

urban school center or social settlement will fail accomplish 

if it seems at all to try to force something from something 

•^ ° for itself 

without upon a neighborhood. The Froebelian 
principle of self-activity applies to the adult as truly as to 
the child. The problem of administration then is to secure 
community activity rather than work on the part of a select 
few. At present it is impossible to foretell whether the 
course of development will lead to the wider use of the school 
plant as a phase of the tax-supported and officially controlled 
municipal activities or to that kind of support and control 
which is voluntary and cooperative without being official. 
Although the public school itself has passed through the 



246 The School as a Social Institution 

voluntary stage to the legal and compulsory, it does not 
seem at all certain that the present movement toward the 
development of community centers will necessarily follow 
the same course. The present is a period of experimentation 
in methods of administration, no absolutely certain tendencies 
being clearly discernible. 

The Equipment of the Community Center 

The old type of school building, with its numerous class 
rooms, its immovable seats, its lack of gymnasium, audi- 
torium, and facilities for recreation, was the 
schoof °° reflection of the view that the school is the place 
equipment for the intellectual education of children — 
cient* ^ ' ^^othing more. One of the first problems in the 
wider use of the school plant has been to change 
and supplement the traditional equipment in such a way as 
to meet the needs of adult recreational, social, and educa- 
tional activities. In the description of the beginning of the 
work at Rochester, it was pointed out that a few changes 
made it possible to transform a city school building into a 
place fairly well adapted to the new use. Providing gymna- 
sium facilities, shower baths, rooms for reading and quiet 
games, books suited to the needs and interests of adults, 
and a few iron gates served to change the building into the 
home of many extension activities. 

With the growth of the community center movement 
there has been some change in the building and equipment 
of schoolhouses. It is now becoming quite 
are needed customary to provide an auditorium which can 
for recrea- be used not Only for school but also for com- 
pubiicmeet- munity gatherings. The swimming pool, the 

ings, for gymnasium, and the lunch room are becoming 
clubs, etc. ,1 i j; 1 i. 

more common, rather on account oi a better con- 
ception of what the school should do for children than be- 
cause of a general desire to adapt the school to general com- 



The School as a Community Center 247 

munity uses, however. From the tendencies of the present 
it seems evident that the school building of the future, not 
only in the city but also in the country, will have, in addition 
to the regular equipment for carrying out modern ideas in 
regard to the education of children, facilities for recreation 
and entertainment of adults, for public gatherings of an 
educational nature, such as lectures, for games and physical 
training of young people, for meetings of various kinds of 
educational and social clubs, and for civic activities. 

While the city has a much greater concentration of 
wealth and consequently more obvious possibilities in the 
way of providing the necessary equipment for ^ 
enlargement of the social work of the school there school 
seems to be no good reason why the rural popula- ^^°^^ ^® 

° '' . . eqmpped for 

tion should not also have adequate provision for community 
work of a similar nature adapted to the needs of ^°^^ 
country life. For this work the ordinary one-room building 
which is used by the district school is very inadequate ; but 
it is almost as inadequate for the conduct of that larger educa- 
tion of children which is coming to be regarded as the solu- 
tion of some of the problems of rural life. Consequently, 
in the course of the development of the next quarter century, 
there seems to be no reason why the rural school equipment 
should not be adapted to both these groups of needs. 

School Cottages. Very often one of the acute problems 
of the rural school is to find a satisfactory place where the 
teacher may live. Although this is the condition 
which gave immediate rise to the idea of the J^^. , 

t6S.Cil6r s 

teacher's cottage, the conception of the school as cottage idea 
a social center is closely related to it and it may °^®^^ "f ^° 

"^ solvmg the 

be expected that the development of the two problem of 
ideas will largely be parallel. Several years t^^.^yrai 

sociflJ center 

ago in the state of Washington the urgent need 

of a place where the teacher might live led to the building 

of a small cottage close to the schoolhouse, — a simple 



248 The School as a Social Institution 

solution of a very important problem. Since that time 
more than a hundred school cottages have been erected 
in that state, and in addition to this development there 
has been a growing conception of the possibilities which the 
school offers as a social center. The law of the state provides 
" That school boards in each district of the second class or 
third class may provide for the free, comfortable, and con- 
venient use of the school property to promote and facilitate 
frequent meetings and association of the people in discussion, 
study, improvement, recreation, and other community pur- 
poses, and may acquire, assemble, and house material for 
the dissemination of information of use and interest to the 
farm, the home, and the community, and facilities for experi- 
ment and study, especially in matters pertaining to the 
growing of crops, the improvement and handling of live 
stock, the marketing of farm products, the planning and 
construction of farm buildings, the subjects of household 
economics, home industries, good roads, and community 
vocations and industries ; and may call meetings for the 
consideration and discussion of any such matters, employ a 
special supervisor, or leader, if need be, and provide suitable 
dwellings and accommodations for teachers, supervisors, and 
necessary assistants." (Quoted in .R. S. Kellogg's Teachers^ 
Cottages, Bulletin of U. S. Bureau of Education, January, 1916.) 
While it is true that the idea of community centers has 
not spread very widely among the rural sections of the 
country, the importance of the advance which 
school needs ^he state of Washington is making is very great, 
special This pioneer work is really a constructive con- 

tribution to the solution of the problems of rural 
schools. It shows something of the possibilities in rural 
education, especially in overcoming some of the handicaps 
which have generally made the country school lag far behind 
the city school in general excellence of work and in adaptation 
to local needs. 



The School as a Community Center 249 

If the rural population once gets an adequate view of 
the enrichment of life which is possible through making the 
school a community center with the proper equip- 
ment for carrying on such a work, there is no good have equip- 
reason why it should not, in the course of time, °^?°* appro- 

'' ' ' pnate to its 

develop a standard of rural school equipment possibuities 
really adequate to meet the needs of country life. ^^ service 
Then instead of a more or less satisfactory school building 
with antiquated furniture, each district or combined group 
of districts will have (1) a thoroughly modern schoolhouse 
with all the equipment necessary to the effective work of a 
good country school and with an auditorium large enough for 
the meetings of the local grange, the parents-teachers' 
association, or the school electors of the district; (2) a 
home for the teacher, large enough for various recreational 
and social activities, especially for groups of young people ; 
(3) a farm and garden, not only for the benefit of the teacher 
and for practical work in connection with the curriculum, 
but also for the purpose of serving as a local experiment 
station cooperating with the state agricultural college. 

Already Denmark has provided for the comfort and peace 
of mind of country teachers by seeing that they are every- 
where given free homes, almost always with ^ . . 

° ' "^ Provision 

a garden. Of the effect of homes for country for the 

teachers a bulletin of the U. S. Bureau of Educa- t^^^^J^f '^ a 

most im- 

tion on The Educational System of Denmark (1913) portant 
states that " such schools, provided as they are for essential 
housing the teachers and making their lives attractive and 
wholesome, naturally become the rallying centers for all 
community activities." In Switzerland, England, the 
Scandinavian countries, France, and Germany, it has long 
been the practice to provide a home for the country 
teacher. 



250 The School as a Social Institution 



Summary 

Although the schoolhouse has often been a center of com- 
munity activities, the school itself has not until recently 
been the central force in the organization of such unifying 
work. With the recognition of the need of developing com- 
munity spirit and the appreciation of the evils of extreme 
individualism, there has come a demand for some kind of 
work or institution which shall bind all elements of society 
more closely together. In the city the need is emphasized 
by the existence of a great deal of actual isolation, by the 
problem of profitable use of leisure, by the existence of class 
lines, and by the demand for facilities for the education of 
adults. Similar needs exist in the smaller cities and in the 
country. But there are obstacles which make the develop- 
ment of community centers difficult. Among them may be 
placed class barriers, intolerance, human inertia, lack of 
adequate leadership, and isolation. 

The idea that the school should become the real com- 
munity center is supported by the fact that the present 
character of the school makes it a natural center of com- 
munity interest, by the fact that it already has much of the 
necessary equipment, by the reasonable expectation that 
such work will benefit the school by an increased interest 
in its work. The idea is supported in a negative way by the 
fact that no other institution, not even the Church, is al- 
together available. 

The growth of the community center idea has been a 
gradual process which has come about through such activities 
as attempting to provide education for adults, providing 
public lectures on topics of general interest, and establishing 
recreation centers. Various cities have led in the work ; and 
their efforts have been supplemented in many cases by appro- 
priate legislation to the end that the school may have wider 
social use. 



The School as a Community Center 251 

In the administration of the extension activities which 
mark the development of the community center there is as 
yet no uniformity. Four general stages of development 
may be seen : (1) purely voluntary effort ; (2) cooperation 
between citizens and school authorities ; (3) control by 
some municipal body other than the board of education ; 
and (4) entire control by the school authorities. In actual 
administration, especially in the small town and in the 
country, the teacher is the most important factor. Upon 
him depends the success of the work, which in general may 
be said to lie in getting the community to accomplish some- 
thing for itself. 

One of the most pressing problems in the establishment of 
a school community center is that of securing adequate 
equipment. The inadequate equipment of the traditional 
school must be supplemented in such a way as to provide 
facilities for recreation, for public meetings, for clubs, and 
for all the various activities which characterize the com- 
munity center. In the case of the rural schools the establish- 
ment of teacher's cottages with appropriate equipment 
promises to do much toward bringing about a solution of 
the problem. 



BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Hanifan, L. J., The Rural School Community Center. Annals of 
American Academy of Political and Social Science, LXVII : 
130-138. 

Johnston, C. H., The Modern High School. Chapter XXI, The 
High School as a Social Center. 

King, Irving, Social Aspects of Education. Chapters V and VI. 

Monroe, Paul, Editor, Cyclopedia of Education. Article on School 
as Social Center. 

National Society for the Study of Education. Tenth Year- 
book, Part I, The Rural School as a Community Center; Part 
II, The City School as a Community Center. 

New York City Board of Education, Seventeenth Annual Report 



252 The School as a Social Institution 

of City Superintendent of Schools (1914-1915), Section on Recre- 
ation Centers. 

O'Hern, J. P., Recreation Centers and Public Lecture Courses. 
Report to the Rochester, N. Y., Board of Education, 1913. 

Perry, C. A., The Extension of Public Education. U. S. Bureau 
of Education Bulletin, 1915, No. 28. 

Perry, C. A., The Wider Use of the School Plant. 

Ward, E. J., and others. The Social Center. 



CHAPTER X 
ORGANIZATION AS A SOCIAL PROBLEM 



The history of American education shows that centralization in 
one form or another has been a progressive tendency for more than 
half a century in nearly all the States of the Union. The movement 
is parallel to a similar evolution which has taken place in almost 
all other departments of social economy, such as business, govern- 
ment, charity, and philanthropy, research, etc. At bottom it is 
a product of two factors : the demand for efficiency and economy, 
on the one hand ; and the growth of intelligence, means of communi- 
cation, and organizing ability, on the other. — David Snedden, 
Problems of Educational Readjustment, page 235. 



As long as the school was a class institution, somewhat 
aloof from the world of men and affairs, its organization was 
naturally based upon the conception of its own j^^ ^^^^ 
nature and needs. There was no necessity of of the past, 
such an organization as would make of it a minia- of tolda°°'^ 
ture of society in general or even of that part must be or- 
of society which it represented. The modern fatisf*^ *° 
conception, however, makes it necessary to take present 
into consideration something more than the most ^°"^ ^^^^^ 
effective system for the attainment of a mere mastery 
of subject matter. It is now essential that due considera- 
tion be given to the following factors: first, the ideals of 
society and of the school ; second, the nature of society in 
a general way; third, the various classes of population; 
fourth, the needs of society as a whole and of the various 
classes. 

253 



254 The School as a Social Institution 

The typical school of the Middle Ages was in a cloister far 
removed from the contamination of worldly affairs. The 
best schools of the Renaissance, being the outcome of an 
effort to restore the liberal education of the ancient classical 
nations, were almost as far from the real world of their time 
as were their monastic forerunners. As these types of 
institutions still exert a great influence upon the schools of 
to-day, it is important that the problem of organization be 
solved with due recognition of the fact so that special empha- 
sis may be placed upon the conditions and needs of the 
present. 

Kinds of Schools 

The school originally developed because of the necessity 
of having a suitable institution for transmitting the acquired 
culture of society to oncoming generations ; and 
originaUy° ' ^^^ educational systems of to-day still find it 
organized as necessary to emphasize this idea. But in addi- 
mittCT^of ^^^^ ^^ ^ proper consideration of this need, it is 
culture, now necessary to have regard for the possibility 
itself to ^the ^^ further progress. The school as an institution 
changing must not merely transmit; it must also provide 
the p^resent training and facilities for work for those who are 
able to break the way to new and better things. 
Furthermore, the schools of to-day must be somewhat 
modified according to the needs of various classes of 
population. Especially in a country like the United States 
must attention be given to the fact that there are great 
masses of new Americans who need to be assimilated through 
the process of education. School organization must be such 
as to meet the needs of every conceivable class, if not of every 
individual, — the native, the alien, the rich, the poor, the 
normal, the defective, the delinquent, the industrial workers, 
the professional classes. 

Since the industrial revolution has broken down the old 



Organization as a Social Problem '^55 

methods of training for work through apprenticeship under 
parents or other masters, society has had to evolve a group 
of schools to replace this older type of training. With the de- 
velopment of modern philanthropy special schools have been 
created for those children whom poverty, lack of native en- 
dowment, or tendency to immorality and crime has made unfit 
or unable to benefit by the schools as generally organized. 

Out of all these needs and conditions has evolved a more 
or less coherent system of schools with kindergarten, ele- 
mentary school, high school, and college as the Different 
central and most important part. The need types of 
for special education of defectives, dehnquents, meet°the 
and unfortunates of various kinds is supplied various 
by schools which parallel this system for at least °®®*^^ 
part of its course. Founded upon the general preliminary 
training of elementary and secondary schools or college are 
the various professional institutions which prepare for the 
work of medicine, law, theology, and teaching, and for the 
various kinds of technological work necessary in modern 
society. A group of schools with status not yet clearly 
defined is now developing alongside the central system, con- 
necting with the later years of the elementary school or with 
the high school. These schools are the ones which attempt 
to lay the foundation for successful work in the various in- 
dustrial and commercial vocations. 

One of the most interesting phenomena in recent edu- 
cational history is the manner in which various kinds of 

vocational schools have arisen in response to _. 

^ The voca- 

social needs. Before our eyes at the present time tionai school 
there is developing a group of schools which will, *^ * ^°°^ 
it is hoped, have a vital part in solving the press- attempted 
ing problems connected with making a living, adjustment 
From the national point of view this will mean better use of 
the human and material potential wealth which are the 
basis of general prosperity. 



^56 The School as a Social Institution 

In this country hitherto the problem has largely been the 
individualistic one of getting along in the world. But with 
increase of population, with growing rivalry with other 
countries for outside markets, and with a decrease in the 
amount of natural wealth easily available, it is evident that 
adequate training in all kinds of economic activities is be- 
coming a matter of social concern. Some of the European 
countries have already gone far along the road that leads 
to the most effective training and use of the human factors 
involved in getting the greatest possible good from the 
various material resources that are at hand. Germany, 
France, Denmark, and Holland may be mentioned as some 
of the countries which have been forced to pursue the path 
which now lies before us, as we begin to realize the social 
value of education adapted to present needs. 

General Character of American School Organization 

While there is no national system of schools in the United 
States, as there is for example in France, there is a certain 
amount of general resemblance in the systems 
no national ^f the various states. In matters which are of 
system of state rather than national concern, the state is 
the United supreme, the United States Constitution pro- 
states, each viding that '' the powers not delegated to the 
veloped its United States, nor prohibited by it to the States, 
own kind of are reserved to the States respectively, or to the 
tion people." As there is nothing whatever in the 

national Constitution regarding the establish- 
ment of a system of education, each state has gradually 
built up its own and has developed a more or less definite 
The e i central control of the whole process of education, 

general re- Through legislative enactment the state exercises 

semblance definite controlHng power over the various sub- 
among the _ ^ ^ 

states, divisions within its borders. To some official, 

however such as the state superintendent of education. 



Organization as a Social Problem 257 

or to some body of men, such as the state board of educa- 
tion, the state intrusts the educational affairs of the entire 
commonwealth in a general way. The rest of the scheme 
of organization falls somewhat accurately into the general 
divisions for political purposes, — county, township, or 
town. But in the school district, a subdivision which 
exists in about half the states, there is an organization 
added to the general scheme of state and municipal govern- 
ment. Such is the general character of school organization : 
a central controlling or advisory authority representing the 
state ; various local organizations, more or less accurately 
designed to carry out the general educational scheme of the 
state in their respective communities. 

Problems of State Educational Organization 

One of the most fundamental problems which the state 
organization of education has to work out is that of its real 
relationship to the local units, especially in the . , 
matter of actual authority. Historically the mental 
early development of schools in this country was f7°I*^^™i^ 

tllflt Ox StS-tG 

due to local rather than to state efforts ; although versus local 
it is true that the Massachusetts Bay Colony ^°^^°^ 
assumed authority over education as early as 1642 and 
1647. But even in that colony the development was local, 
the pernicious district system being the most obvious re- 
sult of a lack of proper centralization. 

As an illustration of the process by which the state as- 
sumed the responsibility for maintaining and controlling a 
system of education we may take the state of 
New York. A beginning was made with the illustrates 
estabUshment of a Board of Regents of the Uni- theconflict 
versity of the State of New York in 1784, the the two 
work of which, however, had nothing to do with '*®*^ 
the elementary schools. A few years later the legislature 
appropriated money for the support of common schools; 



258 The School as a Social Institution 

but the permanent school fund was not really established 
until 1805. The law of 1795 recognized the district system, 
and in 1812 that system was definitely and legally fixed upon 
the state. In the latter year the state took a step toward 
central control by creating the office of Superintendent of 
Common Schools, thus making the elementary schools a 
system apart from the secondary and higher institutions 
which were under the control of the Board of Regents. 
After this there followed a battle for free schools, which 
finally resulted in the victory of those forces which were 
working for the principle of state maintenance of schools 
for the children of all. The final and complete abolition 
of the rate bills, that is, the full support of schools by public 
funds, did not come until 1867. Gradually the state assumed 
such functions as the maintenance of schools for training 
teachers, the administration of compulsory education, the 
establishment of schools for various classes of children, and 
the actual control of nearly all kinds of education within 
the state, not even excluding medicine, law, dentistry, and ac- 
countancy, although not interfering with any form of religious 
education. As a result of a century of development there is 
a highly unified system, in which the absolute authority of 
the state in educational matters is almost unquestioned. 
While other states have not generally evolved as highly cen- 
tralized systems as New York, there is uniform rec- 
absoiute ognition of the authority of the state in educational 
authontyof matters. In the newer states it has not been 

the state is 

now necessary to go through the process of evolution 

universaUy -^^ order to reach this condition, as the right 

recognized ; ' ^ 

but the and duty of the state to maintain a system of 

actual £j.gg schools has been recognized from the be- 

problem of a ° 

balance ginning. Whatever the arrangements dictated 
^^nteai^and ^^ expediency may be, the actual authority of 
local control the state over all local subdivisions in educa- 
remains tional matters is thoroughly settled. 



Organization as a Social Problem 259 

In spite of all this, however, the actual problem of the re- 
lation of central to local authorities continues. While the 
town or county or district derives its powers from the state, 
the delegation of authority may be such that actual local 
control exists rather than effective central administration. 
Each plan has its pecuUar advantages and disadvantages ; 
and the general outcome is a compromise between the ex- 
tremes of centralization and decentralization. 

Advantages of Centralization. The most obvious ad- 
vantage of state rather than local control is that the former 

places the direction of education in the hands of _, , 
^ . The advan- 

men of broader vision, greater experience, and tages of 

higher ideals than is likely to be the case when "ntraUza- 
° . . . "^ tion are (i) 

each little subdivision manages its own affairs, superior 

The lowest ebb in education in the state of Massa- leadership, 
chusetts was at the time when the district system was at 
its height. School affairs, being local in a very narrow 
sense, were generally in the hands of men who were uncon- 
scious of the possibility of great ideals and great achievement 
in education. Progress began to come when the state as- 
sumed the leadership and men of large experience and 
broad vision set about the regeneration of the schools. 

Another advantage of central control is to be seen in the 
work of establishing standards or minimum requirements. 
While it may seem that under a district system / v ^- t^ 
the people will be very close to the control of standards of 
their schools and will demand the very best for e<i"cation, 
their children and that each district will be inspired to at- 
tempt to surpass the achievements of neighboring districts, 
the actual result as seen in practice is just the opposite. 
The tendency of the majority of local units is to get along 
with as little expense as possible ; that is, to have schools 
that are as poor as will be tolerated rather than as good 
as can be desired. The state, by setting up certain stand- 
ards, can compel laggard communities to accomplish what 



260 The School as a Social Institution 

they would otherwise neglect. " What the State deems to 
be wise for its children, it may require communities to pro- 
vide. If any community is too poor to meet the legitimate 
demands of the State, the obhgation then naturally rests 
upon the State to help such community to comply with its 
demands." (Cubberley, Public School Administration, page 
22.) 

If education is treated as a purely local function, the town 
or district is likely to let other interests interfere with the 
(3) better schools. The One ideal which is almost uni- 
support, versally found among administrators, whether 
local, state, or national, is that of seeming to be economical. 
Whether the community be rich or poor, the tax rate is 
almost always the cause of deep concern. Hence if edu- 
cational interests must contend upon a local field with 
water supply, streets, parks, police and fire departments, 
public health, and similar necessary activities, the result is 
not likely to be an adequate fund for the proper maintenance 
of schools. Central control can remove this danger to the 
most important function of the state by requiring a certain 
tax rate, or by requiring the maintenance of certain types 
of schools for a definitely prescribed part of the year. 

One of the most striking advantages of central control 

is seen in the improvement of the quality of teaching through 

the making of increasingly higher requirements 

and (4) im- £qj, ^j^g license to teach. Under a purely local 

provement t i i ■, 

in the System standards are hkely to be lower than 

quality of ^j^g^ ^^^ where the state makes definite require- 

teacners "^ . . . ^ 

ments in regard to length of trainmg or degree 
of intellectual attainment. There have been exceptions to 
this general rule; but the whole history of education in 
this country as in European countries shows that the most 
effective way of guarding the children against the evil of 
poorly prepared teachers is for the state to fix minimum 
requirements which every prospective teacher must meet. 



Organization as a Social Problem 261 

Disadvantages of Centralization. Just as the lack of 
proper central control may make it possible for backward 
communities to neglect adequate provision for 
education, an excessive type of centralization Disadvan- 
may hinder progressive districts and towns in the tr^zation" 
attainment of higher and better standards. If are 
the state makes absolute requirements to which (j) umita- 
all must conform, the demands must be somewhat tion of the 
low in order that they may be within the reach ^^^ ^f p^^. " 
of the poorer and less progressive districts (un- gressive 
less special state aid is given). The danger of munities; 
low standards may be avoided by fixing certain 
minima beyond which any local unit is permitted or en- 
couraged to go if possible. " Nearly all of the substantial 
progress which has been made in public education has first 
been made by some city system, free to act in carrying out 
and testing new ideas, and such freedom in any worthy Hne 
the state should be careful to safeguard. In some of oujr 
American States state uniformity, particularly in the matter 
of textbooks, has already gone too far for the best interests 
of the schools." (Cubberley, Public School Administration, 
page 23.) It is thus apparent that the danger of Hmiting or 
thwarting local initiative is as great as that of failing to 
destroy local lethargy. It is perhaps worse to make a pro- 
gressive community satisfied with its achievements than 
to permit a backward one to remain in a comatose condition. 

One of the great social advantages of a large local re- 
sponsibility and freedom is seen in the interest which is 
created in the conduct of school affairs. In various other 
countries, Germany for example, it has often if not always 
been true that the impulse tending to educational progress 
has been from the top, that is from the central authority. 
In the various American states, however, the reverse of this 
has generally been true. Most of our progress, if indeed 
not all, has been the result of an intense interest of the 



262 The School as a Social Institution 

people in their schools. One great danger of excessive 
centraHzation is that it may remove the control of the 
schools so far from the people that they will lose most of 
their immediate and active interest. It is often true that this 
interest of the citizens becomes somewhat embarrassing to 
school authorities, especially when it has a marked tendency 
to interfere in school matters; but after all it is a hopeful 
sign when school patrons are intensely interested in educa- 
tional matters. Even though here and there a meddler makes 
himself a burden, that strong interest which makes the 
people of a community -solicitous of the welfare of their 
schools is the most powerful force in preventing the educa- 
tional administration from falHng into that isolation which 
is almost absolutely destructive to its usefulness. 

If the schools were altogether under the control of a cen- 
tral body acting without the assistance of various local boards, 
it is very probable that the interest of the people in educa- 
tional matters would in time tend to become as slight as 
their present interest in the enforcement of the laws concern- 
ing the matter of internal revenue. Very few people have a 
burning interest in those matters of administration with 
which they have no immediate concern, as we may discover 
when we contemplate the congressional " pork barrel " or 
almost any of the administrative functions of the federal 
government. 

If centralization is of such a nature as to result in bureau- 
cracy it becomes a real menace to democracy. Machinery, 
(2) bureau- red tape, and excessive authority inspire the 
cracy; teachers in such a system with ideas which can 

hardly help them in their great work of making the school 
a true center of democracy ; for the conditions under which 
they work will be reflected in their relations with their 
pupils. Centralization, if based upon the mihtary idea, 
results in tendencies of a similar nature in the schoolroom ; 
if based upon the bureaucratic idea, it tends to make the 



Organization as a Social Problem 263 

teacher give undue emphasis to mechanical conformity to a 

multitude of rules, generally trifling in character. 

Another danger of bureaucracy is that the small group 

of men who exercise the central authority will become more 

interested in their own continuance in office or , , 
, . , (3) profes- 

their professional advancement than in the wel- sionai 
fare of the educational system which they are selfishness; 
supposed to direct. Even though they do not become self- 
seekers there is danger that their own consciousness of the 
fact that they are experts may become a barrier between 
them and effective work. The expert, whether in law, medi- 
cine, or education, has always a strong tendency to become 
unduly conscious of his own importance, and consequently 
to be less useful than he could be if he were more willing to 
cooperate with others upon a basis of mutual esteem. 

Of the danger that the central authority may be used to 
the detriment of the local unit, Cubberley writes as follows : 
" The ease with which interested parties, — • , , , 
citizens, teachers, or organizations, — can go special 
to the legislature of the State and secure legis- i^g'siation 
lation which some local board of control has refused to 
grant, — such as hfe-tenure for teachers or the imposition 
of some bad administrative form or condition, and which 
may be inimical not only to the best interests of the schools 
of the community but perhaps also to other communities in 
the State, — is an example of the disadvantages of state 
control." (Public School Administration, page 23.) While 
there is a real danger here, it is true that such recourse to 
higher authority sometimes seems the only way in which it 
is possible to secure improvements which the persons in 
control of local affairs are unwilling to provide. 

The Proper Relation of Central and Local Control. As 
excessive centrahzation and undue localization of control 
each has serious disadvantages, it seems evident that the 
harmonizing of these two conflicting systems must be 



264 The School as a Social Institution 

found in some form of compromise, a sort of Aristotelian 
Golden Mean. It is obvious that in all matters of general 
concern in which uniformity is necessary or highly desirable, 
it should be the function of the state to assume entire con- 
trol. Such matters as uniform systems of accounting, and 
of making reports, legal school age, length of the period of 
compulsory attendance, length of school year, minimum 
requirements for teachers' licenses, sanitary standards, types 
and minimum standards of schools, and the supervision 
of schools all come under this head. 

The welfare of the state demands that every citizen 
shall have at least a certain minimum intellectual training. 
Hence, it is the function of the state rather than 
^h ufd**^ that of the community to decide what that mini- 
prescribe mum shall be. As local training of teachers is 
T°T"d^- difficult, if not impossible, except in the larger 
cities, it is the function of the state to set up 
certain standards and also to see that the means of meeting 
the. legal requirements are provided. To leave such matters 
as these to local management would be to go back to the 
days of Ichabod Crane. 

While the state must assume control in such matters as 
have been mentioned in the preceding discussion, the com- 
munity must be free to adapt the means and 
but should methods of instruction to local needs. It is 

give local 

units free- extremely unlikely that the wisest state boards 
domtomeet q£ education or the most farseeing legislators 

local needs . . . o o 

will be able to anticipate all the various educa- 
tional needs of the diverse regions and classes of popula- 
tion which make up the ordinary American state. Local 
boards, inspired by the helpful cooperation of the citizens 
in their respective communities, must therefore be left 
free to go beyond certain essential minimum requirements 
and adjust their schools to local conditions. This means 
that the curriculum may be modified and that even types 



Organization as a Social Problem ^65 

of schools may be transformed to meet any special needs 
which do not exist in the state in general. 

In the matter of taxation it is hardly possible for a central 
body to fix any definite rate which will meet the needs and 
fit the capacity of every community; although 
it seems to be necessary for the state to fix certain an iiius- 
minimal standards in order to insure proper ^^^°°^ 
maintenance of schools. Between the evil of permitting 
various local interests to consume too much of the local in- 
come at the expense of schools and the other evil of giving 
the schools an excessive proportion of public money, there 
must lie a middle course which will assure the school ade- 
quate independence without making it altogether free from 
the limitations of the community. Where the people of 
the town or district in which the school is situated have 
nothing to say in regard to the tax rate for its support, they 
lack one of the most powerful incentives to an active interest 
in its affairs. On the other hand, where the amount of 
money to be expended for educational purposes is left wholly 
to local control, the tendency is to cripple the schools by 
spending as little as possible. While this statement seems 
to be a contradiction of the idea that people will seek their 
own good, it is amply justified by history. In Massa- 
chusetts, for example, in the days of the district system the 
tendency was to spend as little as possible for school buildings 
and equipment and to pay teachers ridiculously low wages. 

In general the solution of the problem of the relation of 
the central authority and the local administration seems to 
require uniformity only in minimal essentials 
while all non-essentials are left to local initiative ®°* <=®^trai 

and local 

and control. As progress in the American states control 
has generally come through the efforts of pro- should ^e 
gressive communities it is especially necessary 
that this source of improvement shall not be lost through the 
Hmitations of a too exacting central authority. 



266 The School as a Social Institution 



The Problems of Local Organization 

As the state has the work of solving general educational 

problems in such a way as to bring about the best social 

results, it is the special task of the local organi- 

duty of the zation to fit into the general scheme in such a 

local unit is way that there may be an effective realization 

to cooperate 0,-1 • -j. j i. • i_ i x • j.i_ 

with the of the spirit and purpose which characterize the 
central or- general outUne of education provided by the 
ganiza on g^^^ite. The first problem of local organization 
then is the proper administration of education according 
to state law. As one part of the rather elaborate organiza- 
tion which society has evolved for carrying on governmental 
activities, the local unit, whatever it may be, has the im- 
mediate problem of offering the most effective cooperation 
possible in realizing those educational ideals and purposes 
which are the basis of the school law of the state. This may 
be providing in the best possible manner for the elementary 
and secondary education of the children who are to be trained 
for the duties of citizenship and general social service; or 
it may be the taking up of some new idea or phase of edu- 
cation, such as industrial training, special work in agriculture, 
or the like. In any plan for educational progress which may 
be devised by the central authority of the state, success 
depends as much upon local cooperation as upon the central 
body. The first great duty of the local organization then is 
that of effective cooperation with the general educational 
body of the state. "^ 

While the local school organization may find its 
tant problem H^'st problem in its relation to the central body 
is to secure which Created it, its most obvious duty is to be 
between ^een in the work of adapting the state's general 



laymen and plan to Community needs. But here lies one of 
workers' '^^^ greatest difficulties in American school organi- 
zation. If the local lay board is given any 



Organization as a Social Problem 267 

authority to interfere in purely educational matters, as 
contrasted with the business concerns of the school, there 
is continual danger that well-meaning but poorly quaUfied 
persons, " clothed with a little brief authority," will keep 
school affairs in a continual state of turmoil by their 
interference. 

Even when the local lay and professional officials work 
together in amity it is difficult to secure, in the small popu- 
lation of the local unit, persons of sufficient edu- 
cational and administrative ability to do effective J* ^^ difficult 

•^ . to secure 

work in adapting the general educational scheme officials of 
to local needs. The lay school officer is quite *^f "eht 

'' ^ caliber 

likely to have his ideals based more upon past 
conditions than upon present needs, or to be concerned 
chiefly with living up to the minimal requirements of the 
school law. When we consider the professional workers 
we find that while there is an increasing improvement in 
the quality of the local directive or supervisory agencies 
the comparative number of properly trained persons in 
such work is rather small. This is merely another way of 
saying that the problem of adapting education to local 
needs is left largely to persons who are not likely to have a 
proper appreciation of what that problem is. They can 
work hard and often effectively to bring the schools which 
they supervise up to the standard set by the state ; they 
may examine and inspect with a view to helping or forcing 
teachers and pupils up to this standard ; but such work is 
not necessarily solving the local problem. The smaller 
the local unit the harder it is to secure men and women 
who have the ability to attack and solve such a problem. 
This involves a question of detail in organization which we 
may mention in view of its social importance although it is 
not the purpose of this chapter to go into the details of 
school administration as such. 

Proper local adaptation implies that the unit shall be 



268 The School as a Social Institution 

small enough to make it reasonably certain that there shall 
be a high degree of homogeneity in the popu- 
probiem is lation within this unit, that natural lines of 
that of division shall be given due attention. Regard- 

reasonabh! ^^^^ ^^ ^^^ effects upon the map, the school dis- 
amountof trict should follow neighborhood lines rather 
geneity than those of the national or state survey. In 

in local city districts the same thing is true : a certain 

*^ ^° amount of homogeneity of population should be 

sought in marking off boundaries. In the city, however, this 
principle, which is a necessary one in securing the most ef- 
fective work of the school, must often be modified by con- 
siderations of distribution of population, capacity of school 
buildings, and shifting of population. 

In rural communities the mere matter of district size 
becomes an important social problem. Where division 
_, J and subdivision are continued almost indefinitely 
district there results a condition which makes efficient 

offers a schools almost an impossibility. The case of 

specially ^ . '' 

difficult Massachusetts, already cited, shows this most 
problem forcibly. In the time of Horace Mann the dis- 
trict system had developed to such an extent that there 
were about thirty-five hundred of these small divisions in 
the state, — the total land area of which is less than eight 
thousand square miles. The average size of a school dis- 
trict then was less than three square miles. Consequently 
the amount of taxable property in each was slight, the^chool 
income was correspondingly small, school buildings and 
equipment were tragically inadequate for proper educational 
work, teachers were too poorly paid to make their work at- 
tractive to the most competent persons, supervision was 
unknown. Making the school an adequate social institu- 
tion demanded the destruction of this wasteful system. 
While Massachusetts recognized the evil, and after a campaign 
of about fifty years removed it, many of the states which 



Organization as a Social Problem 269 

followed this plan of the district system of local school con- 
trol are handicapped to-day because of their adherence to it. 
Making the school an effective instrument for a large 
social work demands a reorganization of the district system 
in every state where it exists in its extreme form. 
For several years past there has been a very ^®°'^^f'^u*' 
promising movement toward consolidation of dis- district 

tricts. Under this plan two or more small system is 
^ . . necessary 

schools are united in a single building located at 
some convenient place ; and some means of transportation 
is provided so that all children can reach the school con- 
veniently. As there is one school of fairly good size in- 
stead of two, three, four, or five small ones, it is possible to 
have a better building, secure better equipment, employ 
better teachers, although not as many, have a longer school 
year, and secure better attendance at a cost which is gen- 
erally not higher than that of the system which is dis- 
carded. With the strength that comes with consolidation the 
school becomes a strong factor in the solution of the prob- 
lems of rural life. The importance of this becomes evident 
as one considers the fact that rural life and conditions offer 
a problem as vital to the welfare of the nation as do the 
urban. The country schools have always had to take 
teachers of less training and experience than those of the 
city ; but with the progress of consolidation it is becoming 
possible to attract and keep teachers who are trained well 
enough to place rural education on a level of excellence equal 
to that of the urban communities. 

In addition to the problems of local organization which 
we have already discussed, administration of education in 
accordance with state regulations and adaptation 
to local needs, we may mention the matter of vision is a*^" 
supervision and leadership. Where the county pressing 
system is combined with some form of more ^^° ^™ 
minute local organization, the person upon whom the re- 



270 The School as a Social Institution 

sponsibility for this leadership naturally falls is the county 
school officer, county superintendent of education, county 
superintendent of public instruction, or county school super- 
intendent. Hitherto the great obstacle in the way of his 
effectiveness has been the fact of his being a political official 
elected for a short term. In addition to this handicap he 
has generally been sufficiently burdened with routine duties 
to prevent him from rendering much real professional serv- 
ice. We may look upon the transformation of his office 
into one in which educational leadership will be the chief 
characteristic as one of the most important problems of school 
organization of the present. " The rapidly rising demand 
for real professional supervision for the rural school, super- 
vision that is close, personal, and adequate, and the many 
movements for the improvement of rural education, which 
have been brought to the front so prominently within the 
past ten years, are expressions of this changing conception 
as to what the office ought to be and what the officer ought 
to do. The yearly visit of a politically elected county edu- 
cational officer no longer suffices ; what is now needed is the 
close oversight and direction of an expert in village and 
rural education, — one possessed of imagination, breadth 
of view, and expert technical and professional knowledge. 
Everywhere our rural and small town schools are calling for 
educational leadership and for professional supervision of 
a new type, but this cannot come, in most cases, until there 
is a marked change in the nature of the county educational 
office." (Cubberley, Public School Administration, page 39.) 
The great need of local as of state organization is the dis- 
covery of some means by which administration may be 
placed in the hands of those persons who are most intelli- 
gent and best prepared for the work. This is indeed a real 
problem of democracy. The city schools seem to have 
found a solution of the problem in unconscious imitation of 
the system of choosing mayors in German cities. As this 



Organization as a Social Problem 271 

plan works out, an official who has made a success of his 
work in a certain community is invited to a larger or more 
prosperous city. The fact that he is not a resident of the 
place in which his services are desired has nothing to do with 
the choice. This is the method by which city school super- 
intendents are generally chosen. The young man who 
succeeds in his work as principal in a small town moves up 
into a better position in a larger town or city. In the selec- 
tion of this official school boards have not been greatly 
handicapped by the necessity of choosing some person 
whose chief qualification is that he is a resident. But in 
contrast with this, the person who fills the office of county 
superintendent must offer as his first qualification residence 
in the county of whose schools he hopes to be elected head. 
His second qualification is ability to get votes, capacity as a 
school man being of some weight in this matter although not 
the sole factor. 

The local organization of the school system comes face 
to face with the actual problems of social education in a most 
concrete form. It is necessary, therefore, that it 
shall be able first of all to translate the abstractness "°™"y 
and vagueness of the general educational policy of the state 
into workable terms. What society, acting through the state, 
prescribes in a general form, the local organization must real- 
ize in a particular and definite way. This means that the 
town or district board then shall have a suitable compre- 
hension of local needs together with a broad outlook upon 
education as a great social process as inclusive as society 
itself. Furthermore, there is the great problem of providing 
supervision, leadership, and inspiration in order that the 
actual work of the school may accomplish the purpose for 
which education is maintained. 



272 The School as a Social Institution 



Organization of the School 

The social organization of the school involves a con- 
sideration of course of study and methods as well as the 
mere machinery for the conduct of the school. The point 
of view here, however, is only the latter, the study of the 
school as social center, of the curriculum, and of methods 
being treated in other chapters. 

The Military Tradition in School Organization. When 
large schools first came into existence in America it was the 
Dealing with ^^o^itorial plan which made them possible. As 
children in the ideal of that system was to have a school 
b^re^has™ °^ three, four, or five hundred pupils conducted 
tended to by a single teacher with the assistance of older 
mmt*^ pupils called monitors, the first and greatest 
type of essential in organization was to have absolute 

tkm aiid niihtary precision in all details. The teacher 
manage- was a general ; at his direction all the parts 
^^^^ of the school moved just as if it were a little 

army. This monitorial system reduced school mechanics to 
a' scheme every detail of which was definitely provided for. 
In most of the large cities of the country at the time of the 
monitorial school movement (the first quarter or third of 
the nineteenth century) the idea had a large influence, thus 
tending to provide the mechanics of school management 
with a tradition of military organization. 

At the present time, as most schools are organized, the 
work is carried on with much of this same spirit. The 
teacher is a commander who marshalls his forces and directs 
their movements with as much of military precision as he 
can command. Without a certain amount of this kind of 
system the school would suffer greatly from wasted time, 
friction, and indirection. On the other hand, where the 
mechanical idea of dealing with children in the mass per- 
meates the entire work of the school, both proper consider- 



Organization as a Social Problem 273 

ation of individual needs and due attention to the creation 
of a true social spirit are difficult if not impossible. 

Imitation of Political Organization. In recent years there 
has developed quite a strong tendency toward what is called 
student self-government, even in elementary 
schools. Very often there is an organization gc^ois 
resembling the national or municipal government, have de- 
with pupils filling the various executive, legis- fo^^of * 
lative, and judicial offices. There may be a organiza- 
constitution resembling that of the nation or a sort to°the^na-" 
of basis of law like a city charter, according to tionai or 
which the school as a republic or city must con- ^gj^^^ 
duct its affairs. Elections are held in due 
form, trials are conducted by properly -chosen judicial 
officers, laws are made as necessary, and all the machinery 
of government is operated by the pupils. 

Where this form of organization is in successful working 
order it relieves the teachers of much of the burden of dis- 
cipline while it gives the pupils training in actual self-gov- 
ernment. It tends to emphasize the idea that the school 
is really the great concern of the pupils instead of being an 
institution in which pupil is set against teacher in the matter 
of discipline. In addition to this, it has the advantage of 
giving the pupils concrete ideas of the actual organization 
of the government under which they and their parents live. 
It also gives them some experience in performing in the school 
republic or city some of the functions which may later 
devolve upon them as adults. The quality of leadership, 
which is highly important in a democracy, is also given 
some opportunity to develop under favorable conditions. 

But it may be said that from a social point of view the 
school republic or city emphasizes a type of relationship 
and cooperation which is not really the most important. 
In actual life the political phase of society is not as dominant 
or as important as it seems. As a matter of fact other 



274 The School as a Social Institution 

social relationships and obligations require much more of 
I thi ^^^ time, energy, and devotion than the pohti- 

oforganiza- cal. It is true that in newspapers and even in 
tion the school histories the political seems to have a most 

most im- ^ 

portant important place ; but within the past quarter or 

social rela- Yia]i century there has been a growing conviction 
are not that citizenship means much more than being an 

emphasized intelligent voter and efficient officeholder. 

When children imitate a none too perfect adult institu- 
tion, there is danger that they will suffer from its defects 
while they profit by its good qualities. Even the shady 
side of politics has been known to appear in the working of 
the idealized governments which have been built up in 
schools. Children may be brought within the influence of 
corrupt politics, favoritism, or even bribery before they 
have the necessary moral stability to overcome temptation 
or the moral insight necessary to recognize it. 

The Plan of Freedom and Informal Cooperation. In 
the world at large most social relationships are based upon 
a certain amount of freedom of association and 
In society a voluntary cooperation. In the various groups 
amount of which are organized for religious, philanthropic, 
free asso- ^^^^ recreative purposes, the obligations laid upon 

ciation and . t^ t- > » f 

voluntary the individual are those which he is willing to 
cooperation ^ssume of his own accord. Whenever he is dis- 

is possible ; 

satisfied with the conduct of affairs or even when 
he is merely weary of the organization he can withdraw 
with or without the consent of his fellow members. On 

the other hand, if the organization is dissatisfied 
school with a member, the group as a whole can eliminate 

is limited in him. Such is the nature of a great many of the 

social relationships of adult life. While the 
nature of the school is different, in that the individual can- 
not withdraw at will and a class cannot eliminate an unde- 
sirable member, there have been various attempts to in- 



Organization as a Social Problem 275 

troduce into the organization of the school a large amount 
of the freedom and informal cooperation which exist outside. 

From its founding, the kindergarten has set forth the 
ideal of freedom ; although in actual practice the institution 
has not always lived up to the theory of its founder. 
Still there has always been a great contrast be- The theory 
tween the liberty of the kindergarten and the kinder- 
discipline of the ordinary elementary school, sarten sug- 
More recently there has been a growing emphasis greater 
upon the idea of social cooperation in the various ^^^^^1^"^ 
activities which characterize the kindergarten ; 
but up to the present the elementary school has not been 
able to profit much by the example which the kindergarten 
has offered. The work of the latter is quite informal and 
the demand for voluntary attention to required tasks is 
lacking; but the work of the former calls for the mastery 
of a great deal of material which does not always appeal to 
the immediate interest of the pupils. Between the kinder- 
garten with children too immature to bear responsibility 
and the college with young men and women mature enough 
to be intrusted with large liberties, the elementary and 
secondary schools have a peculiar problem in respect to 
discipline and freedom. 

It now seems that in many quarters there is a lessening 
of the old mihtary spirit of school management while there 
is a tendency to permit pupils to move about 

The rftfll 

with some of the freedom which is characteristic problem of 
of adults. It is unfortunate, however, that this freedom is 
change does not touch the real problem of freedom intellectual, 
nor does it have any relation to the matter of co- °ot merely 
operation. It is in the realm of the intellectual ^ ' 
and moral that real freedom exists ; and it is to these phases 
of the problem that the school should turn rather than to 
attempts to reduce the irksomeness of restricted physical 
freedom. 



276 The School as a Social Institution 

When we remember that the elementary school is charged 
with the duty of seeing that all children who come to it, all 

children in the state, shall master with reasonable 
necessary in effectiveness a large amount of material which is 
training for necessary for life in a modern civilized community ; 

and when we remember that children of six to 
fourteen years of age are too immature to assume the re- 
sponsibilities of very large hberty, it is seen that the problem 
of freedom is not an easy one to solve. And yet as the 
pupil matures he must be prepared for freedom, without 
which his later life will be reduced to worthlessness. To be 
trained for freedom one must have freedom; and yet the 
immature child is not ready for it. The solution of the 
problem seems to lie in a regulation of the amount or degree 
of liberty and in the feeling of freedom rather than in an 
actual or theoretical attempt to realize the absolute. Not 
even adults possess that. 

Recent Experiments in Organization 

The Junior High School. Americans have felt a great 
deal of pride in the fact that they have a system of education 

" complete and unbroken from kindergarten to 
tions leading University"; but in recent years there has de- 
to the rise veloped a critical attitude which has not been 
high school Satisfied with the amount of completeness or 
rt'i k f unbrokenness. Whatever has been true poten- 
actuai tially, the actual fact has been and remains that 

articulation fQj. |^]^g majority of children there is a very ap- 
of our school parent break before the stage of secondary edu- 
system, cation is reached. The selective work of the 
quent eiimi- school (described in Chapter VI) has operated 
nation of iq make our system of education a mere fragment 

of what it is believed to be. The different grades 
of work from kindergarten to university have been pro- 
vided; but only a minority of our children have actually 



Organization as a Social Problem 277 

received the benefits of even the complete elementary school 
course. Apparently the school has not been meeting the 
social needs of our people ; or conditions outside have been 
conspiring to prevent it from actually doing the work of 
which it is capable. In either case, the current of criti- 
cism is directed toward the school and better adjustment 
is demanded of it. In particular a reorganization is re- 
quired which will remedy the evil of having the high school 
separated from the elementary school by what is for the 
majority of children an impassable gulf. Closer articulation 
is insistently demanded. 

Criticism of our school organization goes further and 
points out the fact that the lack of connectedness between 
the different kinds of schools is paralleled by a , , . . , 
similar insufficiency of adjustment of our edu- adjustment 
cational system to social and individual needs, of t^^ school 

*' to social and 

Even those children who complete the work individual 
of the secondary institution (to say nothing ^^^^^'' 
of those who merely finish the work of six, seven, or eight 
grades) find it difficult to adjust themselves to conditions 
which they meet upon leaving school. There is conse- 
quently an apparent waste for which the school is often if 
not always held responsible. Young people who go from the 
process of formal education to the problems of making a 
living have difficulty not only in securing employment but 
also in adjusting themselves to the work which they find. 

Another condition which is pointed out, this by stu- 
dents of comparative education, is that the failure 
product which society receives from our high of the 
schools is about two years behind that of Euro- f^^^"^^ 
pean secondary schools in academic attainment, school to 
The youth who has completed the work of the ^^J'J^/p"an 
German Gymnasium, for example, is about as ad- standards in 
vanced in academic training as the American who is ^^^^^^.*:. 

" . accompusn- 

finishing the work of the sophomore year in college, ment 



278 The School as a Social Institution 

Such conditions as the foregoing have led to an attempt 
to reorganize elementary and secondary education in such 
a manner as to adjust our schools more adequately to pres- 
ent social demands. The result is an elementary course 
of six years, followed by a kind of double secondary school 
made up of two three-year divisions, — the junior high 
school or intermediate school being the first half of the 
newly created secondary institution. 

Just what is meant by the term " junior high school " is 
not as yet a matter of full agreement. To those who are 
D finiti f stJ'o^sly influenced by the tradition of an eight- 
junior high year elementary school followed by a four-year 
school secondary course, it seems to mean merely an 

amalgamation of grades seven and eight with the first year 
of the present high school under conditions which empha- 
size the secondary rather than the elementary in curriculum, 
methods, and discipline. To those who are impressed by 
the need of better adjustment of the school to present social 
conditions, the new institution is an organization which 
magnifies the importance of those subjects which will assist 
young people in finding themselves in the vocational world 
and in making adjustment easy when they assume the 
burden of making a living. To such the junior high school 
is chiefly a pre-vocational institution. The conception 
which is destined to prevail if educational principles and 
social ideals predominate over crassly materialistic demands 
and tradition is that expressed by Professor Charles Hughes 
Johnston in an address before the National Education As- 
sociation in July, 1916. In defining the junior high school, 
he states that " it is that portion or department of the public 
school system above the sixth elementary grade, including 
the seventh and eighth, and usually the ninth also, which 
is organized under a distinctive internal management with 
a special principal and teaching staff, or under a six-year 
secondary school department divided into a junior and a 



Organization as a Social Problem 279 

senior high school of three years each, with one general 
management. Such a school in these first three years pro- 
vides for departmental teaching, partially differentiated 
cm-riculums, for prevocational instruction and for systems 
of educational advice and guidance and for supervised study. 
No definition which merely says that it is an institution 
which shifts the seventh and eighth grade boys from ele- 
mentary school to high school properly represents the ideal." 
{Journal of the National Education Association, 1:417.) 

The social significance of the reorganization which results 
in the junior high school is seen in such matters as the 
following. In the first place it seems from many 

Tjig socifll 

reports that the new institution succeeds in hold- significance 
ing pupils in school better than the old arrange- o^ the junior 
ment. In Rochester, N. Y., for example, the ig^seen in* 
first year after the junior high school was or- reduction of 
ganized 94^ per cent of the pupils who com- 
pleted the work of the eighth grade remained in school, 
whereas only 51 per cent had remained the preceding year. 
Reports from other cities show a similar tendency. In the 
second place it is possible to provide a better outlook on the 
vocational world through the organization of the junior 
high school than has been possible hitherto. At the same 
time it is possible to prevent too early specialization, and to 
make guidance more effective. Under the usual better 
system, parents and pupils are forced to come guidance, 
to some kind of decision of vocational importance at the 
end of the eighth school year; while under the new ar- 
rangement time can be given for awakening vo- 
cational interests and training such abilities, prep^ation 
Furthermore those children who are planning for college 
to prepare for college entrance and perhaps for ^nd profes- 
professional training have the possibility of taking sionai 
up a foreign language at least a year earlier than "'""s 
is usually the case. It may thus be expected that benefit 



280 The School as a Social Institution 

to society will accrue not only through the improved man- 
agement of those who will enter the fields of commerce and 
industry but also through the better preparation of those 
who will engage in the work of the professions. 

It is, however, too early to judge what will be the actual 
fulfillment of the promise that Professor Johnston sees in 
" new ideas of promotion, new methods of preventing elim- 
ination, new devices for moving selected groups through 
subject matter at different rates, higher compulsory school 
age, new and thorough analyses (social, economic, psycho- 
logical) of pupil populations, enriched courses, varied and 
partially different differentiated curriculum offerings, sci- 
entifically directed study practice, new schemes of all sorts 
for educational guidance (educational in a narrow sense, 
and also moral, temperamental, and vocational), new psy- 
chological characterizations of types in approaching the 
paramount school problem of individual differences, new 
school year, new school day, new kind of class exercise, new 
kinds of laboratory and library equipment and utilization, 
and new kinds of intimate community service." {Op. cit., 
page 144.) 

The Gary Plan. Within the past few years no educational 
idea has attracted greater interest or aroused more con- 
troversy than the plan of school organization which Super- 
intendent William Wirt has worked out for the 
Considered ^-^.y q£ Gary, Indiana. Superficially considered 

superficially "^ "^ ' t- j 

the Gary the System is merely an arrangement by which 
Plan means ^^q schools may be housed in a single building, the 

housing two -^ . ° °' 

schools in first school attending from eight o'clock until 
one build- three, the second from nine until four. Such 

ing, with ' 

faculties for an arrangement is made possible by having the 

work, study, ^Qj.k divided into four different kinds of ac- 
and play 

tivities : (1) the studies usually carried on in 

school ; (2) such work as requires shops, laboratories, and 

studios ; (3) mass instruction in an auditorium ; (4) activities 



Organization as a Social Problem 281 

which may be conducted in gymnasiums and playrooms or 
on playgrounds. By alternating the various kinds of work 
the two schools utilize the whole equipment for the entire 
day. Great flexibility is characteristic of the system. Hence 
it is possible for a pupil who is deficient in any subject to 
carry that with a group of pupils with attainments like his 
own, while he does more advanced work in other subjects 
with other groups. It is also possible for parents to arrange 
to have their children receive outside instruction in music, 
language, religion, or any other field without interfering 
with the work of the school. The departmental method is 
substituted for the usual practice of having each teacher 
instruct all pupils of a class in every subject which they 
study. 

A mere description of the organization of the Gary schools 
fails utterly to give an idea of Superintendent Wirt's plan. 
Such externals as economy in use of school build- 
ings, the departmental system of organization, J^e ideal 
the solution of the part-time problem, and com- the school 

parative decrease in number of teachers required ^® °^ ®^®^ 

. pupu; 

are not real essentials. The ideal is to make the 

school truly a socialized institution which shall be a positive 
force in the community. For the individual pupil provision 
is made for the three great essentials in his development, — 
work, study, and play. The industries of the community 
naturally have a large influence in determining the character 
of the vocational activities of the school ; the various phases 
of human culture provide the materials for study; and 
the numerous games of childhood offer at least a founda- 
tion for the play activities. Instead of merely attempt- 
ing to make the school provide the traditional intellec- 
tual training Superintendent Wirt has sought to secure a 
very positive and extensive enrichment of school life for 
every pupil. 

The ideal of enrichment leads further to an attempt to 



282 The School as a Social Institution 

coordinate all existing child-welfare institutions and to 
utilize all facilities in present public and private 

to coordi- recreational and educational institutions. Con- 
nate all ex- 
isting child- sequently libraries, museums, art galleries, public 
welfare ^^ay grounds, and gymnasiums of social centers 

and Young Men's Christian Associations are made, 
as far as possible, affiliated parts of the wider school plant. 

Perhaps the whole ideal may be summed up. in the state- 
ment that the Gary Plan attempts to provide a socialized 
and to pro- education in harmony with the most progressive 
vide a truly thought of the day. This conception of the nature 
education °^ education is carried out not only in the attempt 
for every to select and arrange subject matter but also in 
^"^ the process of developing methods of instruction 

and discipline according to social ideals. 

Unfortunately as the plan has been carried to other cities 

the form rather than the spirit has been uppermost in the 

minds of some of its supposed advocates. Much 

The adapta- q£ ^^iq criticism which has been evoked has been 

tion of the 

plan in other based more upon externals and non-essentials than 
cities has ^pon the actual character of the plan itself. 

sometimes '^. '^ 

sacrificed Where a so-called Gary Plan reorganization is 

the spmt for jj^^de the excuse for overworking teachers, for ex- 
the form . . .\ . 

aggera ting the idea of economy, for making slightly 

modified school buildings of the traditional type (lacking in 

nearly all the essential features) the material background of 

the work, it is evident that the criticism which such a course 

arouses has little or nothing to do with the real Gary Plan. 

The immediate present of the Gary Plan is a time of 

confusion and controversy ; and it is still too early to give 

Ti. • x-11 X a categorical statement of its relative advan- 
It IS still too ° 

early to form tages and disadvantages. However appealing the 

a final judg- [^qq^ itself may be, only years of actual trial will 

value of the show whether the means utilized actually realize 

P^*° that ideal better than other plans that are being 



Organization as a Social Problem 283 

tried. Whether the system of organization eventually suc- 
ceeds or fails, however, it is making a positive contribution 
to the work of socializing the school. 

Summary 

Fundamentally school organization presents but a single 
problem, that is, to provide institutions which are adapted 
to the satisfaction of present educational needs, social and 
individual. Consequently the school, originally organized 
as a transmitter of culture, must adjust itself to the chang- 
ing needs of to-day — and to-morrow. To perform this 
work it is necessary to have many types of schools, each 
organized to meet some peculiar group of needs. As there 
is no national provision for a system of education in this 
country, each state has evolved its own form of organization ; 
but there is a great deal of general resemblance. 

The subordinate problems of organization which are dis- 
cussed in this chapter are state, local, and institutional. 
The absolute authority of the state in educational matters 
is now generally recognized ; but there still remains the 
difficult question of the proper relationship between central 
and local control. A high degree of centralization affords 
the advantages of superior leadership, higher standards of 
education, better support, and improvement in the quality 
of teachers ; while it suffers the disadvantages of limiting 
the initiative of progressive communities, bureaucracy, pro- 
fessional selfishness, and the possibility of pernicious special 
legislation. In the matter of proper relationship between 
central and local control, the state should prescribe minimum 
standards ; but it should give the local units freedom to meet 
their own peculiar needs. 

The problems of local organization are as follows : to co- 
operate with the central organization in such a manner as 
to realize the broad educational aims and ideals which con- 
trol the entire system; to create harmony between lay- 



284 The School as a Social Institution 

men and professional workers in school administration; to 
secure and maintain a reasonable amount of homogeneity 
in the populations included within the local divisions. In 
about half the states the existence of the district system offers 
a special problem ; since further progress is largely de- 
pendent upon the elimination or modification of that extrava- 
gant system. 

In the organization of the school itself there are three 
general types, representing the traditional organization and 
recent attempts toward improvement. Coming down from 
the monitorial system which had a wide vogue in the early 
nineteenth century is the ideal or practice of a somewhat 
military form of organization. In some schools this has 
been replaced by a form of government in which the stu- 
dents administer a school republic or city. A conviction that 
neither of the foregoing provides proper or sufficient oppor- 
tunity for gaining familiarity with the most important 
forms of social activity outside the school has resulted in 
attempts to provide for freedom and informal cooperation 
in the school. 

Two recent attempts to improve school organization are 
the Junior High School and the Gary Plan. The former at- 
tempts to secure better articulation between elementary and 
high schools and to adjust curriculum, methods, and dis- 
cipline to the most obvious social and individual needs of 
the present. The latter is likewise a form of organization 
which is based upon social ideals, which are carried out 
in various forms of work, study, and play. The most ob- 
vious external feature of the Gary Plan is the housing of 
two schools in one building with a consequent shifting of 
pupils from one form of activity to another in such a way 
that the entire school equipment is in constant use. It is 
still too early for a final judgment of the merits of either 
scheme of school reorganization. 



Organization as a Social Problem 285 



BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Ayres, L. p., School Organization and Administration. 

Betts, George H., New Ideals in Rural Schools. Chapter II, 
The Social Organization of the Rural School. 

Betts, George H., Social Principles of Education. Chapter XI, 
The Social Organization of the School. 

Boynton, F. D., Cooperation in a School System. Educational Re- 
view, LIII : 329-340. April, 1917. 

Brown, J. F., The American High School. 

Bunker, F. F., Reorganization of the Public School System. U. S. 
Bureau of Education Bulletin, 1916, No. 8. 

Cxjbberley, E. p.. Public School Administration. 

Cubberley, E. p.. Rural Life and Education. Chapter X, Reor- 
ganization of Rural Education. 

Deffenbaugh, W. S., School Administration in the Smaller Cities. 
U. S. Bureau of Education Bulletin, 1915, No. 44. 

Dewey, John, Organization of American Education. Teachers 
College Record, March, 1916, pages 127-141. 

HoLLiSTER, H. A., The Administration of Education in a Democracy. 

Johnston, C. H., Editor, The Modern High School, Part I, The 
Institutional Relationships of the High School ; and Chapter 
XIV, The Internal Government as an Expression of the Social 
Character of the High School. 

King, Irving, Social Aspects of Education. Chapters XV and XVI, 
The Social Life of the School. 

Macdowell, T. L., State against Local Control of Elementary Edu- 
cation. U. S. Bureau of Education Bulletin, 1915, No. 22. 

MoNAHAN, A. C, Consolidation of Rural Schools. U. S. Bureau of 
Education Bulletin, 1914, No. 30. 

MoNAHAN, A. C, County-Unit Organization for the Administration of 
Rural Schools. U. S. Bureau of Education Bulletin, 1914, No. 44. 

MoNAHAN, A. C, Organization of State Departments of Education. 
U. S. Bureau of Education BuUetin, 1915, No. 5. 

Monroe, Paul, Editor, Principles of Secondary Education. Chap- 
ter V, The Organization of the High School ; Chapter XXI, 
The Reorganization of Secondary Education. 

ScoTT, C. A., Social Education. Chapters III-VII. 

Smith, W. R., Introduction to Educational Sociology. Chapter 
XII, Social Factors in School Administration ; Chapter XX, 
The Essentials of the Socialized School. 

Snedden, David, Problems of Educational Readjustment. Chapter X. 



286 The School as a Social Institution 

THE GARY PLAN 

Bourne, R. S., Education and Living. 

Bourne, R. S., The Gary Schools. 

Dewey, J. and E., Schools of To-morrow. 

Taylor, J. S., Report on Gary Schools. Educational Review, 
XLIX : 510-526. May, 1915. Report on the Gary Experi- 
ment in New York City. Educational Review, LI : 8-29. 
Jan., 1916. 

United States Commissioner of Education, Report, 1915 : 27- 
30 ; and 1916 : 42-45. 

THE JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL 

Douglass, Aubrey A., The Junior High School. National Society 
for the Study of Education, Fifteenth Yearbook, Part III. 

Johnston, C. H., The Junior High School. Journal of N. E. A., 
I: 145-151. 

United States Commissioner op Education, Report 1915 : 32- 
34, 61-64, 123-124 ; and 1916 : 65-67, 115-116. 



CHAPTER XI 
PRIVATE SCHOOLS AND PUBLIC EDUCATION 



The sum of the total educational activity of the United States 
is not to be ascertained by making an inventory of what the gov- 
ernment — national, State, and local — is doing, but only by tak- 
ing account of all that the people of the United States are doing, 
partly through governmental forms and processes and partly in 
non-governmental ways and by non-governmental systems. In 
other words, the so-called public education of the United States, 
that which is tax-supported and under the direct control of a gov- 
ernmental agency, is not the entire national educational system. 
— Nicholas Mureay Butler, The Meaning of Education, page 324. 



So accustomed have we become to the discussion of 
schools as public institutions, supported by funds raised 
largely by taxation, and controlled directly by legislation 
administered by boards representing the author- 
ity of the state, that the idea of the importance the^erm 
of the private school is likely to be foreign to our "private 
thinking. As the term is here used, "private 
school" means one that is not supported by public funds 
nor controlled directly by state authorities. It includes 
therefore the institution managed by private individuals as a 
commercial enterprise, the school maintained by any philan- 
thropic organization, and that maintained by any religious 
denomination. That is to say, the term " private " refers not 
to the nature of the service of the institution, but rather to 
the form of support and control ; for there are few schools 
so circumscribed in their operations that they can fail to 
be considered public in the wide sense. Even the so-called 

287 



288 The School as a Social Institution 

business college maintained as a commercial venture by a 
single individual or by a small group of men does a work 
that has a public significance entirely different from that of 
affording a means of livelihood to the men who profit finan- 
cially by its prosperity. Hardly as much can be said, however, 
for the '' select " school which limits its activities to a few, 
determined by wealth or social position. 

Reasons for the Existence of Private Schools 

It might seem from the intense interest in public educa- 
tion and from attempts of state schools to offer instruction 
in every conceivable field that private schools 
^^**® could find no place for profitable endeavor. Such, 

schools ^ ^ ' 

attempt to however, is not the case. There are a great many 

meet the people who are not satisfied to send their children 
demand for ^ ^ 

a kind of to the public schools. Sometimes this feeling is 

education ^^^ ^^ ^ beUef that better instruction can be given 
which the . 

public under private auspices or that a more desirable 

schools do gocial environment can be provided by an in- 

not give ^ "^ 

stitution which caters to a select few, often 
determined by material prosperity; and sometimes this 
condition of mind is due to religious conviction and the 
desire to have a type of education which is not altogether 
secular in its nature. 

The following statement by the Reverend Morgan M. 
Sheedy gives a clear view of the Roman Catholic attitude : — 

The Catholic Church has always laid down this great and vital 
principle, namely, that secular and religious instruction should 
„, ... never be parted in education. It has laid down and 

tude of the followed this principle from the beginning. It has laid 
Roman it down not only for the elementary schools, but for 

Catholic the higher schools — the colleges and universities. It 

Church j^g^g never wavered; it has never receded, and it 

never will; and that because of the view it holds of education. 
Education, it maintains, is the formation of the whole man — in- 
tellect, heart, will, character, mind, and soul. Whether it be the 



Private Schools and Public Education 289 

child of an American artisan in the parochial school or the son of 
a millionaire in the university, it is all the same. The Catholic 
Church will accept as education nothing less than the formation of 
the whole man. It wiU never consent that its children shall be 
reared without a knowledge of their faith, or that education shall be 
so divorced that secular knowledge shall be made the subject of 
daily and earnest inculcation and that religion should be left out 
as an accident, to be picked up when and as it may. The Catholic 
Chiirch holds that a Christian nation can spring only from Chris- 
tian schools, and that neither private zeal, nor home education, 
nor the Sunday School suffice to supply the Christian teaching and 
formation of character which she desires in her children. It is 
because of this settled conviction that at all costs and at great 
sacrifices she preserves here in the United States the unbroken and 
unimpaired tradition of Christian education from the parochial 
school of the humble mission to the majestic colleges and univer- 
sities of the land. {Report of U. S. Commissioner of Education, 
1903: 1081.) 

Another reason for the existence of private schools is to 
be found in the fact that public schools have not always 
offered to educational innovators that freedom 
to try their new ideas which is essential to a de- ^^'^ ^^^^^ 

.... f 1 • ™*y easily 

termination oi their value. The kindergarten be tried in 
idea was first introduced in America under private p"^^**® 

. , . , -. r schools 

auspices. At the present time the Montessori sys- 
tem is being presented in schools which are supported by 
groups of private individuals who are interested in the plan. 
The course of history shows that a common manner of 
introducing new practices into pubUc education is through 
the private institution. 

In addition to the foregoing reasons may be cited the fact 
that for many people, adults especially, the work offered 
by pubhc schools is not suitable or not available. 
Hence, schools have arisen to provide for the Jchoordoes 
pecuhar needs of thousands who wish to make i^o* meet the 
educational advancement, but who cannot attend °®*^^ °* ^ 
the pubhc schools or find there the training which they wish. 



290 The School as a Social Institution 

Extent of Private Education in the United States 

According to the Report of the United States Commis- 
sioner of Education for 1915, there were in the year 1913 in 
the elementary schools, including kindergarten, 
private primary, and grammar grades, 19,064,787 pupils ; 

schools of of whom 17,474,269 were in pubhc, and 1,590,518 
in private, schools. In secondary schools there 
were 1,134,771 students in pubhc institutions, 148,238 in 
private institutions, with an additional 83,318 in prepara- 
tory departments of higher institutions. These figures do 
not include 839,634 students in miscellaneous schools of 
elementary and secondary rank. For each thousand people 
in the nation there were 196 pupils in elementary schools 
and fourteen in secondary schools, the ratio between the 
number of elementary and of secondary pupils being fourteen 
to one. In the public elementary schools the number was not 
quite ninety-two per cent of the total, the remaining eight per 
cent being in private schools. In smaller numbers this means 
that of each twelve pupils in elementary schools one is in 
an institution not supported by the state. In the secondary 
schools the proportion of students in private schools is 
considerably higher, about one pupil in seven being in such 
institutions. 

A special type of private institution which attracts thou- 
sands of students is the commercial school. Of such there 
are about 1300 in the United States, 704 of which reported 
to the United States Commissioner of Education for the 
year 1914. The number of students in the schools reporting 
was 168,063 ; but the Commission on National Aid to 
Vocational Education estimated that there were 50,000 to 
100,000 students in private commercial schools not tabu- 
lated in the returns to the Commissioner of Education. To 
say that there are a quarter million students in such schools 
would probably be a fair estimate. 



Private Schools and Public Education 291 

Comparatively speaking almost all private schools are 

under the control of various religious denominations, the 

percentage of other private schools being ex- 

ceedingly small. The Roman Catholic Church private 

leads in number of parish schools and number of schools are 
^ under reli- 

pupils, having, according to the Report of the gious con- 
United States Commissioner of Education for the ^^'^ 
year 1915, 5488 parochial schools with 1,456,209 pupils. 
This church maintains in addition several hundred high 
schools most of which are directly connected with one or 
more parish elementary schools. The various Lutheran 
bodies are second in the maintenance of parochial schools, 
the total number of schools in all the synods being about 
4800, with an attendance of more than a quarter million. 
Other religious denominations carry on a certain amount 
of school work; but as a rule they are not as eager to 
maintain their own elementary and secondary schools as 
the Roman Catholic Church and the Lutheran synods. 

As an example of a church which conducts a large work in 
higher education may be mentioned the Presbyterian 
Church of the United States (Southern). This 
organization maintains one hundred educational ofProtes- 
institutions, of which more than half are theologi- tant denomi- 
cal seminaries, colleges, and academies. The 
Baptist Church (North) maintains eight seminaries with 
719 students ; twenty-four colleges with 16,209 students ; 
and twenty-three academies with 3593 students : a total of 
fifty-five institutions with 20,521 students. These two 
denominations are cited as examples of churches doing work 
in the field of higher education, not as exceptions to the 
general practice of such organizations. 

A statement of the extent of private education would be 
incomplete and perhaps misleading if not accompanied by 
the facts concerning its changing ratio to public education. 
Although it is known to every one who is at all familiar 



292 The School as a Social Institution 

with the history of education that the past century has 
shown a tremendous decrease in the relative extent of pri- 
vate schools, it is not so well known that the 
schools are same tendency still continues. In proportion to 
not increas- the increase in total population of the country, 
idiy^aVtiie *^® pubhc schools are increasing more rapidly 
denomina- than others. Even in the Roman Catholic 
latton ^°^"" schools, where one would hardly expect it, this 
tendency is noticeable. In 1903, the number 
of pupils in these schools was 9.3 per cent of the total 
CathoHc population, — the figures being 1,006,529 and 
10,774,989 respectively ; while in 1915, the percentage had 
fallen to less than nine, the reports showing 1,456,206 in 
a total Cathohc population of 16,309,310. Although no 
inference can be drawn from the statistics of a very short 
period, it is well to state that from 1914 to 1915 there was 
a tendency in the opposite direction; for the increase in 
Catholic population for the year was 241,325 while the 
increase in number of pupils was 26,347. That is, the 
increase in number of pupils was nearly eleven per cent of 
the increase in Catholic population for that year although 
the total number of pupils was not quite nine per cent of the 
total Catholic population. This change may be but the result 
of fluctuations which occur from year to year; or it may 
mean that the ratio between attendance upon Catholic schools 
and that upon pubhc schools has begun to shift in a direction 
opposite to that which has prevailed for more than a century. 
If the private school has a function which cannot be per- 
formed by the pubhc school, it is evident that this tendency 
which we have described cannot continue much 
probably a longer without raising a grave social problem by 
limit to the relegating the private institution to a place of such 
decrease of slight importance that it will be comparatively 
private negligible. If, on the other hand, there is no 

adequate social reason for the existence of the 



Private Schools and Public Education 293 

private school in a democracy, the change which has 
been going on may continue indefinitely without causing 
any social loss. However, as we shall see in a later 
paragraph, it is possible for the private school to render 
valuable social service without being of great quantitative 
importance. It does not seem Ukely that in this country 
the further evolution of the pubUc school system will de- 
prive society of certain desirable contributions which can 
be made by the private schools. 

Classes op People Reached 

While the pubhc schools serve all classes and kinds of 
people, with no distinction in regard to wealth, social posi- 
tion, or rehgious views, the private schools gen- 
erally show a tendency to confine their work to ^^*te 
*' . "^ schools 

some particular group of people. The select serve special 
school marks off boundaries according to wealth *=^*sses of 

people 
or social position ; the denominational school, 

however philanthropic the motives back of it, reaches but 
few outside the adherents of the faith represented ; the 
private commercial school or business college appeals to 
but a small class. Furthermore, as the private school 
often makes a special appeal to parents on the ground that a 
large amount of individual attention will be given or an 
especially desirable moral and rehgious environment will 
be afforded, it frequently happens that pupils who are weak 
morally or backward mentally are sent to the private rather 
than to the public school. As public boarding schools are 
practically unknown in this country, parents who are un- 
willing to be burdened with the supervision of their children 
frequently turn to the private school as a source of relief. 
Likewise parents who have little confidence in their own 
abihty to guide and control their children find in the private 
school the promise of a solution of their vexing problems. 
All this applies to particular schools rather than to private 



294 The School as a Social Institution 

schools as a whole; for as a class these schools reach the 
high, the low, the rich, the poor. 

Scope of the Work Done 

On account of its freedom from the restrictions which 
are placed upon public schools, private education has the 
With the possibility of a widened range of activities. Re- 
exception of ligious instruction is the most notable example of 
content of ^ ^^^^- Although various other countries have 
private and succeeded in keeping what is called " religion " in 
schools is *^® curriculum of the state schools, such a course 
about the has not been found possible in the United States. 
same Consequently by far the greater part of private 

education in this country is due to the fact that the 
desired instruction in religion can be given under such aus- 
pices. In contrast with this serious and important matter, 
there stands the fact that the private school may devote 
its attention to educational frills and gewgaws which have 
not been able to find a place in public ed^ication. 

Aside from these details, however, the content of the 
private schools is about the same as that of the public in- 
stitutions, in elementary education, such denominations 
as maintain their own schools vary but little from the typical 
public school with the exception of the addition of rehgion 
and sometimes a foreign language which is rarely taught 
in the elementary schools supported by the state. Prac- 
tically the same may be said of secondary and higher educa- 
tion. In professional schools only training for the ministry 
makes a difference in content. 

The discussion of the scope of private education, which 
has been solely from the point of view of what is accom- 
plished in the schools, should be supplemented 
spondence' hy a statement of the work of those institutions 
school is no which conduct their instruction by correspond- 
excep on qj^qq^ While they are not schools in the ordinary 



Private Schools and Public Education 295 

sense, they have adopted the title, and the character of 
their work is sufficient justification of that expansion of the 
meaning of the word "school." There are in the United States 
at the present time more than two hundred correspondence 
schools, comparatively few of which are in connection with 
public institutions such as state universities. Students are 
numbered by the hundred thousand, one organization 
having an enrollment of more than a milhon. The work 
carried on covers practically every field that any adult 
human being is likely to desire to cultivate. As subjects 
such as the following are best adapted to the methods of in- 
struction by correspondence, they naturally receive largest 
attention and attract most students : — the common branches, 
ancient and modern languages and literatures, history, and 
mathematics. But there are correspondence schools of law, 
of public speaking, of memory training, of college prepara- 
tory work, and even of music. No young person or adult 
who has time, strength, ambition, and perseverance need 
remain at a dead level of intellectual attainment for Jack of 
opportunity to receive expert guidance in almost any field. 

The Value of Private Schools 

From the material or financial point of view it may be 
said that the private school relieves the State of the burden 
of educating almost a tenth of the total number 
of children who attend school. To the State this school 
means the saving of milhons of dollars. In a reUeves the 

state of 

great city like New York, it means reUef from a part of the 
burden which is apparently too great to be borne ; expense of 
for even though more than 150,000 children are 
in private schools, the city does not seem able to provide 
the necessary equipment and teachers for those who are 
in its schools. In places where there is no overcrowding 
in the public schools, the maintenance of private schools 
does not of course have the same significance. 



296 The School as a Social Institution 

Those private schools which are maintained by tuition 
fees and which are practically commercial ventures natu- 
rally do not expect aid from the State ; although it is true 
that they are performing an important social service in 
certain ways. In some of the larger cities, for example, the 
Young Men's Christian Association maintains what are 
really continuation classes ; but the burden of the expense 
is shifted from the State to the persons who receive the 
training and to the public spirited citizens who make the 
necessary gifts to supplement the amount received in fees. 

That the relief afforded is a good may be disputed ; since 
it tends to give rise to the attitude that the State can provide 
This some- ^ cheap kind of education while it permits private 
times leads philanthropic and religious organizations to as- 
for^ubUc^ sume the burdens which it ought to bear. The 
aid of pri- situation also gives rise to a feeling that the 
eraUy various churches which are maintaining schools 

church) ought to receive financial aid, from the State in rec- 
^*^ °° ^ ognition of the value of their services. Although 

this educational question of state aid to denominational 
schools was fought out in very bitter fashion in the nineteenth 
century there are still a few persons who are so unmindful 
of the lessons of history that they seem wilHng to give the 
_ . old controversy new life. 

Private . 

schools In contrast with the material aid which is ren- 

carry on dered by the private school stands a different 

work which kind of service — that of carrying on certain kinds 

*^h ^T*fi H ^^ work which the State cannot do at all or which 

difficult or it can do only under great difficulties. The most 

impossible; obvious example of this is religious instruction. 

such as . . , 

(I) reUgious Whether the churches might or might not give 
education ^^jg training without attempting to provide edu- 

and the . . i i • • • ^ 

tr ainin g of catiou lu sccular subjccts at the same time is not 

religious j^gj-g ^he question. It may be that " after us some 

better scheme will be shaped out by wiser men 



Private Schools and Public Education 297 

than we " ; but at present society is greatly indebted to the 
churches for providing that rehgious education which nearly 
all consider desirable, but which the American state cannot 
give under present conditions. In this same connection 
should be mentioned also the training of a class of social 
servants and leaders, the clergy, whose professional prepara- 
tion must with us necessarily be in the hands of the churches. 

In the field of educational experiment the private school 
renders a service of great value to public education. It is 
lamentably true that public schools do not always 
offer wide range for the introduction and trial of mentation 
new ideas. Perhaps it would be better to make with new 
the statement in the past tense ; for the public 
schools of to-day are experimenting as they have never done 
before. The Gary Plan, which is being tried in various 
places, notably in New York City, is the contribution of 
the superintendent of a city school system. The junior 
high school is undergoing trial in many public schools 
throughout the country. But even though it is true that 
there may at present be a greater possibility of experimen- 
tation in the public schools than ever before, it is also true 
that private schools may and do have a great value as the 
proving ground of new ideas. In connection with such 
institutions as Columbia University and Chicago Univer- 
sity there are maintained elementary and secondary schools 
in which can be tried the ideas of some of the foremost 
educational thinkers of the day. 

A corollary of this general idea of value through educa- 
tional experiment is the fact that the private school can be 
used as a means of compelling progress in public , . 
education. When under private auspices a new compelling 
type of institution arises and satisfactorily meets P^^^e^^ss 
some social need, the very fact of its existence and its success 
is a force which compels the State to undertake the same 
kind of service, unless there happens to be some insur- 



298 The School as a Social Institution 

mountable obstacle in the way. Likewise, when a private 
institution introduces a new and practical idea, the public 
schools of the whole country are soon benefited. If trade 
schools are satisfactorily maintained under private auspices, 
it is not long until public opinion compels the authorities 
in the state schools to introduce similar training. If a private 
school elaborates a system of socialized class aqtivities, the 
public schools profit without any great delay.. 

In summarizing, it may be said that the great value of 
private schools lies not in the doubtful service of reheving 
the State of its proper burden of providing secular educa- 
tion for all its children, but rather in the work of experi- 
menting with new ideas and in leading or forcing the public 
schools to keep abreast of the times by adopting new studies, 
new methods, new types of organization which have been 
shown valuable by trial under the conditions of private 
education. 

Dangers of Private Education 

As the term " private school " includes a large number of 
different kinds of institutions, it seems obvious that danger 
may lurk in one type without being present in 
"Select^ others. Consequently the following discussion 
tend to will necessarily apply to this group or to that 

"^"^biT*^ without being general enough to cover all. 

In those private schools which are '' select " 
the chief danger hes in the cultivation of snobbery. The 
fact that selection is based upon wealth or social position 
is in itself sufficient to arouse in the minds of many the 
suspicion that the whole fabric of such institutions is thor- 
oughly dyed in the hue of snobbery. It is a fortunate fact 
that the actual conditions do not always justify the sus- 
picion; for there are some private schools, select in their 
nature, which make serious effort to emphasize the demo- 
cratic ideal. Described in shghtly different terms, this 



Private Schools and Public Education 299 

peculiar danger of the select school may be characterized 
as a tendency to exaggerate class Knes which already exist 
because of the uneven distribution of wealth and the social 
prominence of certain families in their respective com- 
munities. There is a certain type of mind which is unduly 
impressed with the importance of wealth or birth; and it 
is to this type that the ultra-select school makes its appeal, — 
to the detriment of the children involved and to the public 
in general. 

Another kind of private school displays the menace of 
commercialism. An institution which takes a half page in 
the Sunday newspaper to intimate if not to claim 

that it can uniformly accomplish results that can 9°??™®'"' 
\ '^ . cialism 

in reality be shown in the case of an exceptional is a vice of 
pupil here and there exhibits a decided tendency somepnvate 

^ ^ "^ schools 

to prostitute education to moneymaking. As a 
business man, the proprietor of a private school is entitled 
to a profit on his investment ; as an educator, however, he 
is guilty of a grave breach of professional ethics when he 
allows the commercial spirit to obscure the primary purpose 
of the school. An unfortunate secondary result of this 
commercial spirit with its blatant advertising is that it 
leads the uncritical to believe that money can buy what the 
public school cannot or will not give. It must be admitted 
that the danger to society through the commercialism of 
private schools is not very great ; for there is still in the 
world enough of that wholesome conservative spirit of the 
ancient Athenians who despised the Sophists for " selhng 
knowledge as merchandise " to act as a proper check upon 
the commercial spirit. Furthermore the private schools 
of the better class frown upon the sordidness of the crass 
moneymaker in their ranks, thus affording a further check. 
The chief danger arising from the schools maintained by 
rehgious denominations is that of fostering the spirit of 
sectarianism. Our history and that of European countries 



300 The School as a Social Institution 

shows that when this spirit is extreme it acts as a powerful 
disintegrating force upon society. That the virulence of this 
The church ^pi^i* has decreased is undoubtedly due in no 
school may small measure to the work of the public school, 
much of° ^^ ^^y ^® *^^* ^^ have now reached a level of 
sectarian development where all the churches which main- 
^^^^ tain their own schools for elementary and second- 

ary education are wise enough to distinguish between rehgion 
and sectarianism and tolerant enough to teach their own 
peculiar doctrines without arousing a feeling of suspicion 
and antagonism toward their fellow citizens who cherish 
different views on spiritual matters. There always remains 
the danger, however, that devotion to the tenets of any reli- 
gion will, especially in immature minds, result in a feeling of 
intolerance for others. 

The removing of this danger is a matter which must 
remain in the hands of the churches themselves. If the 

State attempts to remove it by legislation or 
T^^ "^Xth^ persecution, the result is only a deepening of 
churches, sectarian lines, an increase of intolerance. If the 
stat^*^ *^® government of any state to-day were to attempt to 

close all the parochial schools within its borders, 
the immediate result would be an intensification of sec- 
tarianism which would undo most of the work which toler- 
ance has accomplished in the past century. The churches, 
realizing that the mere fact of their maintaining private 
schools for their children is sufficient to arouse suspicion in 
many minds, even though that suspicion is unjust and 
ill founded, must take extraordinary pains to prevent any 
intolerant sectarianism from contaminating denominational 
loyalty and religious zeal. Those churches which maintain 
parochial schools must realize that whenever any group of 
people is suspected of lack of Americanism, hostility to 
American institutions, or unwillingness to abide by the 
principle of majority rule in political matters, that group is 



Private Schools and Public Education 301 

almost certain to be identified in suspecting minds with 
denominational bodies which are not content to permit 
their children to receive secular education in the schools 
provided by the State. They must realize that this is 
especially true if those parochial schools magnify the im- 
portance of a foreign language or if the denomination owes 
its allegiance to a ruler whose seat is in a foreign country. 
Knowing these facts, they owe it to themselves and to the 
religious ideals which they represent to be tolerant above 
all other men, to cultivate good citizenship with an assiduity 
which rivals that of the public schools, to preach loyalty 
to American institutions with unflagging zeal. 

Finally there is the danger that private schools may im- 
pose upon society by providing an inferior quality of in- 
struction. The facts are not at hand for making . 
a general comparison of public and private educa- schools may 
tion in the matter of quality. In each case we p''°^.'^® *° 

^ "^ inferior 

find a range extending from the work of the grade of 
poorly prepared tyro whose heart is not in his ^^''^ 
teaching to the expert whose whole life is devoted to the 
profession. In the field of secondary education, however, 
an investigator ' found a general belief among college and 
university administrators that pubUc school graduates do 
better work than their private school associates in college. 
This may be due, however, to a process of selection rather 
than to the quality of instruction. Or it may be attributed 
to the fact mentioned under the head of " Classes of People 
Reached " that many pupils in private schools are " special 
problems " intellectually and morally. 

State Supervision of Private Schools 

In the Middle Ages there developed the practice of leav- 
ing matters of education to the control of the Church and 

1 Macrae, Euphan W., Sociological Status of the Private School, an un- 
published master's thesis, Teachers College, Columbia University, 1911. 



302 The School as a Social Institution 

the family, the Church thus assuming an authority, which, 
among the Greeks and Romans, had been held 

The his- • 

toricai hy the State. At the time of the Reformation, 

transition the idea of state control of education reappeared 
to state con- ^^^ with it the theory that it is the duty of the 
troi of edu- State to provide education or see that it is pro- 
left a prob- vided. The two conflicting ideas of control by 
lem of ad- State or by Church still exist ; although practice 
in the United States makes the idea of general 
control by the Church seem but a rehc of a long-dead past. 
While the power of the State to legislate in regard to general 
educational matters is not questioned in actual practice, a 
peculiar situation exists in the matter of the re- 

A.111 G 1*1 C fl.ll 

practice is a lation of the State to religion. Here it has been 
form of the American poHcy to maintain an attitude of 
neutrality benevolent neutrality. The State may have the 
toward the power to legislate in matters of rehgion ; and in 

fact it was customary for it to exercise that 
power in colonial days. Experience has shown though that 
a wiser policy is to refrain from aU interference in religious 
affairs. 

In the field of education, however, we have a peculiar 
problem in that it is the generally recognized duty of the 

State to maintain schools for the education of its 
iar proWem' children but it is also the policy of that State to 
in education make no effort to control religious institutions. 

Yet the churches enter the field of secular educa- 
tion. What is to be the attitude of the State toward such 
church work? Shall it proceed upon the assumption that 
since schools are maintained by the churches they are too 
intimately connected with religious matters to make it 
wise or safe for the State to attempt to control either directly 
or indirectly? Or shall the civil authority insist that ed- 
ucation is a matter of so great importance to the State that 
all schools, whether religious or secular, shall be under the 



Private Schools and Public Education 303 

direct or indirect control of the State? Or shall a middle 
course be pursued? 

In France we find an example of a country which follows 
the extreme course of state control and supervision. A 
little more than a decade ago (July, 1904) the 

, 1 i 1 i 1. • The problem 

government suppressed the teachmg congrega- ig solved in 
tions and completely secularized the schools. At France by 
present private schools may be maintained; but state control 
they must have teachers who have the same apf super- 
qualifications in age and ability as public 
school teachers, although freedom is permitted in regard 
to curriculum and methods. As long ago as 1881 the curric- 
ulum of the public school was secularized, civic and moral 
instruction being substituted for religion. It is thus seen 
that the French government solves the problem of its 
relation to private education by assuming authority to 
control in all matters whatsoever, even in religion and in 
schools maintained by religious organizations. 

In the German states the educational rights of Protes- 
tants, Catholics, and Jews are naturally the basis of a very 
difficult problem for the authorities. In the 
solution of this problem there are two vital prin- J^^^ stateT 
ciples : first, that the State is the supreme author- by a com- 
ity in educational matters, with the right of in- p™""^®- 
spection of all schools, both public and private ; second, 
that parents have the right to have their children trained 
in the faith to which they themselves adhere. From the 
American point of view the most noteworthy fact in the 
working out of the problem of religious education and state 
control is that a regular place for religion is provided in 
the curriculum of the public school, Protestant children 
being taught by Protestant teachers, CathoHc children by 
Catholic teachers, wherever possible. It will be seen that 
this policy is in great contrast with the French plan, in 
which governmental control of education has brought about 



304 The School as a Social Institution 

complete secularization, not only in control but also in 
curriculum. 

England affords a remarkable example of a country in 
which the medieval idea of education as the function of 
in England Church rather than of State has steadfastly per- 
by a slowly sisted. Only by a tedious process of typical 
system^of English compromise, too long to be narrated in 
state con- detail here, has the State come to be a sort of 
^° ' proprietor of education rather than a mere patron. 

The early years of the twentieth century, however, found 
the nation assuming control of a type which would have 
been impossible a few years earlier. Through the develop- 
ment of the board schools which were supported and con- 
trolled by the government, the voluntary schools, which 
were maintained under the auspices of religious organiza- 
tions, were gradually crowded into a subordinate position 
in matters of maintenance and attendance. Against the 
bitter opposition of the churches to the extension of civil 
control. Parliament enacted a law in 1902 (effective in 
1903) which placed the administration of elementary educa- 
tion in the hands of the civil authorities, not without certain 
safeguards to religious instruction, however. Of equal 
importance has been the development of the idea of the 
responsibility of the nation for its children, shown in in- 
creasing attempts to provide for child welfare, to secure 
medical inspection and care, to furnish school meals, and to 
maintain " for all children attending a public elementary 
school, vacation schools, vacation classes, play centers, or 
other means of recreation during their holidays or at such 
other times as the local education authority may prescribe." 

The American method of controlling private education 
may be described as indirect. The various states do not 
prescribe curriculum or methods, do not as a rule attempt 
to supervise, and assume no responsibility for support ; but 
through certain general requirements, such as prescribing the 



Private Schools and Public Education 305 

amount and kind of minimum education which all children 

within certain age limits must have, they set up a standard 

to which the private schools must necessarily 

conform, regardless of what they add to the states by 

minimum requirements of the law. Generally indirect 
I • 1 . . ,. , control 

speakmg, any person who is so inclmed may 
establish a private school, may employ assistants of what- 
ever attainments he thinks necessary, may charge such 
fees as he is able, and may even confer or sell degrees 
according to his fancy. His school is a business venture in 
which the great controlling force is the need of convincing 
his patrons that what he offers is to be preferred to what 
the public school provides. 

In contrast with these general conditions is the situation 
in the state of New York, in which there is a highly cen- 
tralized system of state education and with it large control 
of private schools. To the Regents of the University of 
the State of New York (university here meaning the entire 
educational system of the state) is given the supervision 
of all elementary, secondary, higher, and professional schools. 
The Regents set the examinations through which alone is 
to be found entrance into the professions of medicine, 
pharmacy, and optometry. No unauthorized institution 
is permitted to confer degrees. Examinations for gradua- 
tion from secondary schools are maintained by the Regents. 
Even the title of college or university is forbidden to any 
institution which does not have official authority to use it. 

Summary 

Private schools, distinguished from public as lacking 
state control and support, exist because of certain demands 
which are not satisfied through other means. Quite ob- 
viously the field in which the State can do least is the religious. 
Consequently most private schools are under denomina- 
tional control. At the present time about a tenth of our 



306 The School as a Social Institution 

total school population is in private schools ; but the relative 
amount of attendance upon such schools is decreasing. As 
the private school still seems to have a definite province, it 
is not likely that the decline in relative importance will 
continue beyond a certain point. In regard to the classes 
of people who are served by private schools, the facts show 
that there are more or less successful attempts to reach all. 
The work done is of about the same scope as that of the pub- 
lic school with the single exception of religious education. The 
social value of the private schools is fourfold : (1) they relieve 
the State of part of the burden of support, a rather doubtful 
service; (2) they provide religious education and develop 
religious leaders ; (3) they offer a field for trying new ideas ; 
and (4) they sometimes serve as a force to compel progress 
in public education. The dangers are as follows : (1) a 
certain type of private school tends to cultivate snobbery; 
(2) the vice of commercialism threatens the highest ideals 
in education ; (3) the church school may make too much of 
sectarian lines ; and (4) the quality of instruction may be 
inferior. State supervision of private schools has become 
a problem through the transition from the medieval idea of 
church control to the modern conception of state support 
and control. In France the solution is provided by the 
practice of extreme state control and supervision; in the 
German states by a compromise which provides for religious 
education in state schools ; in England by a slowly develop- 
ing system of state control, with definite safeguards for 
religion; and in the American states by an attitude of 
benevolent neutrality with indirect control. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Brown, E. E., The Making of our Middle Schools. 
Burns, J. A., Catholic School System in the United States. 
Butler, N. M., The Meaning of Education. Chapter XVI, Some 
Fundamental Principles of American Education. 



Private Schools and Public Education 307 

Chancellor, W. E., Our Schools. Chapter X. 

Monroe, Paul, Editor, Cyclopedia of Education. Articles on 

Roman Catholic Church and the Public and Parochial Schools, 

V : 195-200 ; Lutheran Church and Education in the United 

States, IV : 95-99. 
Monroe, Paul, Principles of Secondary Education. Chapter VI, 

The Private Secondary School. 
Sachs, J., The American Secondary School. Part II. 
Sargent, Porter E., A Handbook of American Private Schools. 

For statistics, consult the Reports of the United States Commis- 
sioner of Education. 



CHAPTER XII 
THE COURSE OF STUDY: GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS 



The scheme of the curriculum must take account of the adaptation 
of studies to the needs of the existing community life ; it must select 
with the intention of improving the life we live in common so that 
the future shall be better than the past. Moreover, the curriculum 
must be planned with reference to placing essentials first, and refine- 
ments second. The things which are socially most fundamental, 
that is, which have to do with the experiences in which the widest 
groups share, are the essentials. The things which refpresent the 
needs of specialized groups and technical pursuits are secondary. 
- — John DeweYj Democracy and Education, page 225. 



Nature and Origin of Subject Matter 

Among those primitive peoples whose Hves and experi- 
ences are so circumscribed that it is practically possible for 
. . , the individual to enter fully into almost all the 

The subject '' 

matter of activities that go to make up life, there is no need 
education q£ attempting to make any special arrangement of 

onginates m, ,.i-, 11 i,.i 

experience those thmgs which are to be learned or of those 
and grows kinds of skill which are to be acquired. Life and 

through con- 
sciousness education are synonymous. But as the body of 

of need knowledge and the various kinds of skill increase 

in volume and complexity, as it becomes more and more 

difficult or impossible for the individual to experience 

first hand in his own life all that the society of his time 

thinks and does, leaving the past out of the question, there 

develops a somewhat rigid grouping of experiences which 

every normal individual is expected to acquire. What society 

308 



The Course of Study 309 

was, what it is, and to a more hmited extent, what it is to 
become, have served to give form to this body of experiences. 
When the animistic conception of hfe prevails, it seems 
evident to the social group that the most important 

. , . . . . , , Among 

thmg to transmit to the rismg generation is a kno wl- primitive 

edge of those ideas, practices, and ceremonies peoples the 

which are necessary to the maintenance of a satis- of formal 

factory relationship with the Unseen World, education Ue 

_,.,,,. ,. . . .in relation- 

Tribal history and tradition, mysteries and magic, ships with 

forms and ceremonies afford the basis of a body of *^® Unseen. 

subject matter which later develops into a definite tenai is so- 

course of study. The material is social in its ^^^^ ^^ it^ 

, , nature 

origin and nature. 

Among peoples of a higher level of development the same 
kind of evolution takes place. When some kind of written 
language develops and a literature grows out 
of the history, traditions, myths, and ideals of a niattertends 
people, this literature becomes the foundation to reproduce 
of the work of the school. There follows then not tcTantici- 
an increasing gap between formal education pate the 
and many of the activities that make up every- 
day life. Gradually there is an increase in the amount of 
attention given to the formal side of language, as contrasted 
with content ; and the course of study becomes more and 
more formalized. As its content is in the past and as its 
character becomes formal, it represents less and less the 
life that is ; although it is always paradoxically considered 
an expression of what is to be. In some remarkable way 
the school seems to expect to use the formalized traditional 
material in such a way as to make the children of to-day fit 
into the world of to-morrow. This is the type of education 
which was characteristic of the schools of the Greeks and 
Romans, of the Middle Ages, of the Renaissance. It is 
this type which is still represented by a very great number of 
schools. 



310 The School as a Social Institution 

In spite of the force of tradition, however, the course of 

study does not remain unchanged. While tradition is 

social in its nature, there are other forces, hke- 

But modifi- ^jgg gocial, which tend to overcome the tendency 

cation , , . . . 

comes from to keep the school an mstitution of the past in its 

time to time essentials. In a study of The Social Factors 
as a result 

of the pres- Affecting Special Supervision in the Public Schools 

sureofpres- ^j ^^g United States, Jessup shows how various 

ent needs •' i ■ 

social forces have a bearing upon the following 
subjects : music, drawing, manual training, domestic science, 
physical training, and penmanship. His conclusions are 
as follows : " The religious and social sanction was operative 
in the case of music. The need for an artisan trained in 
industrial art in order to improve the finished product of 
the manufacturers furnished the sanction for drawing. 
Manual training came a^ a result of about the same type of 
agitation and as far as the general public was concerned, it 
had an industrial sanction. However, the belief in ' creative 
activity ' furnished an additional educational sanction wholly 
apart from the one mentioned above. Domestic science 
came into the schools with a statement of the practical 
necessity of teaching girls how to work. This was inter- 
preted from both the economic and social standpoint. The 
' creative activity ' idea was operative to a limited degree 
as a justification of the work considered as manual training 
for girls. Concern for bodily welfare was the sanction for 
the widespread introduction of physical education, while 
penmanship took its place as a fundamental part of the curric- 
ulum under the commercial sanction." (Page 112.) 
Jessup . v o / 

shows that Jessup finds further that in general the changes 

changes which are made in the curriculum are not so much 

have come 

through the the result of initiative on the part of school 

work of authorities as of force exerted from without ; 
agencies ' 

outside the although it is true that when changes begin to 
schools Y,e made there is a certain amount of imitation 



The Course of Study 311 

which leads to the introduction of new subjects into schools 
whose authorities have not felt social pressure nor given 
careful consideration to social needs. 

The typical way in which new material is introduced 
into the curriculum is described by Jessup as follows : " We 
have noted that in almost every case the expense of the 
initial experiment was borne by these [private] organiza- 
tions. After a further preparation of the public mind and 
proving the possibility of the venture, the second step was 
to effect joint control between the advocates of the new 
movement and the regular school authorities, followed by 
the complete adoption at public expense. In view of the 
facts presented in this study it would seem quite possible 
to introduce almost anything into the schools provided a 
few influential people became sufficiently interested to fur- 
nish the necessary funds for the development of public senti- 
ment. This plan has met with uniform success in the past 
irrespective of the subject involved or the size of the city." 
{Op. cit, page 114.) 

The course of study then is the expression of two not al- 
together harmonious forces : that of tradition and that of 
present recognized need. It is customary to _, 
speak of the curriculum as "an epitome of the of study 
experience of the race." Although this concep- represents 
tion of the nature of subject matter does not neces- promise 
sarily imply a backward-looking attitude, it has ^^^h^° 
always offered a strong temptation to consider and present 
the past rather than the future. The old ^^^^^ 
Chinese education, with its emphasis upon the absolute 
necessity of recapitulating the past in the present, is a good 
example of what may come from a too religious adherence 
to the idea that the material to be studied is an epitome of 
the experience of preceding generations. 

It is not necessary, however, to interpret the past as that 
which is remote from the present ; although it must be 



312 The School as a Social Institution 

admitted that there is a very noticeable tendency to do so. 
Those who have placed the ancient classics with their wealth 
of wisdom in our courses of study have been inclined to be 
rather suspicious of the newer Hteratures and of those phases 
of learning which are the result of modern scientific progress. 
There is no good reason why the expression " epitome of 
the experience of the race " should not include what is being 
learned to-day just as much as what was experienced a thou- 
sand years ago. Even though it be argued that the ancient 
good has proved its worth a milhon times, such former 
excellence is no absolute guarantee of present usefulness or 
adaptability to modern needs. On the other hand, the 
interest of the hour is not, merely because of its present force, 
certain to lead to that which is best for the present or for the 
future. 

It follows then that the course of study should be a most 

careful balancing of the forces of past and present with as 

wise a consideration of the future as it is possible 

Should past ^^ give. Mere reliving of the past cannot be a sat- 

or future be . ° . ° ^ 

the deter- isfactory solution of the problems of life in a 

mining force progressive modern world : nor is following the 

in selecting ^ ° ' c 

the ma- vagaries of the present likely to produce a satis- 

teriais of factory future. The course of study, social in 
education ? '^ '' ' 

its origin, should be a mirror not only to reflect 

the good of the past but to catch something of the promise 

of the future, if we may paraphrase Lowell's lines. If there 

is any difference in emphasis, should not what is to be have 

greater influence than what has been ? 

The Function of the Coukse of Study 

In a general way it is the part of the course of study to 
provide the materials which are necessary to the realization 
of those ideals, attitudes, interests, kinds of skill, and attri- 
butes of character which we set before us as the aim of 
education. Our study of the nature and origin of the subject 



The Course of Study 313 

matter of education has shown that a very great variety of 
material is available for present use in such a remaking of 
experience as will offer at least a moderate amount 
of satisfaction to the needs of to-day. We have fmfctfoTof 
seen that the general character of this material the course 
is such as to suggest that it may be used for "^ provfde 
the purpose of making the oncoming generations material 
what those of the past have been, but that it may ^ijfc'tf to 
appropriately be used as a basis for progress rather reaUze the 
than for mere recapitulation. It is the function ^cation 
of the course of study to assist in the process of 
transforming the child as he is by heredity into the man 
possessed of his spiritual inheritance and fitted to the work 
of the world of which he is a part. In rendering this serv- 
ice to education, the course of study supplies an organized 
and idealized environment, it furnishes the material for the 
building of character, it serves in the development of social 
consciousness, it provides a stimulus to activity, it broadens 
the content of experience, and it aids in the process of social 
adjustment. 

The Course of Study as Environment. As the growth of 
civilization results in an environment so complex that merely 
living with adults is not sufficient to give the 
child an adequate preparation for the work of ^j? j^^™" 
life, it becomes necessary to select from the end, the 
myriads of experiences which may be transmitted ^^o^f^e of 

*' ^ '' study must 

to him certain types which seem best suited to provide a 

give him a mastery of those ideas and kinds of special en- 
• • 1 1 -1 I vironment, 

skill which he will need later as an adult member 
of society. Instead of leading a life in which there is no 
systematic presentation of the world of nature, of men, and 
of ideas, he is placed in an environment which has been 
more or less carefully selected and arranged. Instead of 
being left to master the intricacies of language through 
practice in the affairs of child life, he is provided a language 



314 The School as a Social Institution 

environment the purpose of which is to enable him to gain 
a degree of control of this instrument which he would not 
be likely to gain if left without direction. A special mathe- 
matical environment is created for him so that he will be 
saved the years of groping which in his hfe would parallel 
the ages in which the race was rising to the level of adequate 
mathematical mastery of the objective world. The phenom- 
ena of nature are organized and a knowledge of things is 
provided in such a way that he may incorporate into his 
own life that science and those attitudes which distinguish 
the civilized man from the savage. The world of men is 
idealized for him and presented as literature and history in 
forms that make it possible for him to gain an insight into 
the ideals and affairs of the human world of which he is but 
an atom. In the niodern school even the industries are 
epitomized and made a part of the environment of the 
worker-to-be. 

In all this the value of the course of study as a phase of 
environment of child life is evident. It may not be in actual 

practice the most effective part of that environ- 
v?"^ ^ d ment ; for example, the organized language work 
and of the school may not overcome the random ex- 

^apted to ^ periences which at home and on the playground 

build up habits of speech that are not desirable. 
Nevertheless the function of the curriculum as environ- 
ment is obvious. Although it may often be lacking in effec- 
tiveness the fact of this fundamental function remains. 
Furthermore the importance of environment can hardly 
be overestimated. Even Rousseau, in planning the educa- 
tion of that child of nature, Emile, in whom all instincts 
were good, recognized the necessity of providing proper 
surroundings in which and through which all the latent pow- 
ers of a man might develop. The general educational 
world, however, lacking Rousseau's faith in the efficacy of 
random association with nature and man, still emphasizes 



The Course of Study 315 

the importance of environment, but attempts to systematize 
and idealize it so that its benefits may be gained most cer- 
tainly and most expeditiously. 

The Course of Study as a Means of Broadening Experi- 
ence. A second function of the subject matter of education, 
closely related to that of providing environment, 
is the broadening of experience. The child's im- means of 
mediate world of things and interests is narrow, broadening 
In the little corner in which he lives in time and ^^p®"®"*^®' 
space, he is likely to come into active contact with relatively 
few of those larger forces which go to make the character 
of modern man. For him the course of study provides a 
vast range of experience which is not limited by time or 
space. The good of the ancient world and that of the geo- 
graphically remote are both brought within his reach. The 
content of this culture, to the extent that he can assimilate 
it, enriches his own experiences and raises them above the 
level of the trivial. It broadens his view of the world and 
as a result makes it possible for him to develop a better sense 
of the relative values of the various elements which come 
within the range of his everyday life and of those which 
promise to have for him a future value. 

This broadening of experience makes the child of to-day the 
associate of all the great characters who have influenced the 
world's history ; it brings within easy reach a knowledge of 
the scientific advancement which others have made only 
through severest struggle ; it helps him see and appreciate 
the noble ideals which have animated men of all ages and 
lands. 

The Course of Study as a Stimulus to Activity. In our 
previous discussion of the course of study as an organized 
and idealized environment and as a means of .^ .. 

it provides a 

broadening experience, there has been lacking, stimulus to 
except by inference, any statement of the most ^'^^'^^ 
important function of the materials of learning — the 



316 The School as a Social Institution 

stimulus to activity. The mere existence of an environ- 
ment is not of itself sufficient to insure development; al- 
though it is of very great importance. To be surrounded 
by books does not necessarily mean that one will become a 
scholar ; to live in the country does not mean that one will 
gain a large familiarity with plants and animals. Some of 
the most ignorant of medieval monks lived in monasteries 
where priceless works of literature were within easy reach. 
Even the farmer is often lacking in knowledge and interest 
concerning the plants and animals that surround him, 
with the exception of those immediately related to his work. 

It must be the function of the course of study then to pro- 
vide a stimulus to activity, without which all the collected 
wealth of human experience will be meaningless and useless. 
Just as the race has through age-long activity developed the 
culture which is presented to the child, he will be able to 
develop his powers only as he recapitulates in his activities 
those experiences which the course of study presents as an 
idealized environment. 

In order to provide the necessary stimulus to activity 
the course of study must not only present something to 
do ; it must much more offer that which seems 
be based worth doing. The great truth in Rousseau's 
upon a sense idea that Emile should gain from his environ- 
ment a knowledge of only those things which 
aroused his interest is that profitable activity grows out of 
those situations which offer in addition to the mere possi- 
bility of activity the appearance of being worth while. One 
reason why the course of study often seems futile is because 
the environment thus provided does not offer the learner 
anything that appeals to him as having sufficient worth to 
demand conscientious activity. 

Since the time of Rousseau a great deal of nonsense has 
been written on the subject of making the course of study 
grow out of the child's interests. The idea of entertainment 



The Course of Study 317 

and immediate pleasure has very often obscured the funda- 
mental necessity of a feehng of worth. In this reaction 
against an education planned for a future so remote that 
the most imaginative child could not foresee it even dimly, 
there has sometimes been an insistence upon a present so 
immediate that all sense of values has been lost. 

While the curriculum is made up of those materials which 
the adult knows to be of permanent worth, there is the very 
difficult problem of arranging them and presenting them 
in such a way as to make the child conscious of their worth. 
The old type of education took it for granted that all learners 
would appreciate the value of the material, or if they did 
not, the fact made no difference ; while much of the " soft 
pedagogy " of recent times seems to assume that the child 
cannot see beyond his own nose in matters of concern to 
him. 

The stimulus which comes from a sense of the worth of 
the material presented is immediate in its effect ; but it 
grows out of purposes which are both immediate and remote. 
Naturally the child, with his Umited range of experience, 
cannot have a very large appreciation of the needs which 
will meet him in later years. Hence, it is necessary that 
the materials first presented shall grow out of his childish 
feeling of value. But as he continually grows in capacity 
and insight it is foolish to continue forever to treat him as if 
he could not by any possibility distinguish between immedi- 
ate and somewhat remote ends. 

As the material which is presented in the course of study is 
social in its evolution, it seems a reasonable inference that 
the stimulus which it offers should likewise be social in its 
nature, not entirely of course but in a very large measure. 
This idea is one of the foundations of method and will be 
discussed in a later chapter. 

The Course of Study and Character-building. As the 
foundation of society is the character of the individuals 



318 The School as a Social Institution 

who compose it, it is evident that one of the chief functions 
of the process of education is to develop in the rising gen- 
eration such interests, attitudes, habits, ideals, 
material for ^^^ characteristics in general as are most neces- 
character- gary in modern civilized society. What we have 
"^^ said in regard to the function of the course of 
study as environment and as stimulus to activity can now 
be put together as elements in character-building as an 
important function of the material which is provided. 

Between the theory of Rousseau that the process of edu- 
cation is merely to bring out what lies potentially within and 
with the philosophy of Herbart which regards char- 

knowledge acter as something which is to be built up through 
experience or " presentation " of the world of nature and of 
man, there is a commonsense middle ground. In the mat- 
ter of interests as a phase of character, for example, it is 
not necessary to depend solely upon what is born in the indi- 
vidual, nor is. it essential that we regard them as something 
to be created and developed entirely through proper " pres- 
entations " of the natural and moral universe. The func- 
tion of the course of study is to harmonize the two ideas 
of environment and stimulus to activity in such a manner 
as to result in the use of such proper interests as are instinc- 
tive and to develop them and others to the end of forming 
character. 

When it is possible to harmonize these two ideas, the mean- 
ing of the course of study in its relation to character rather 
than to mere knowledge-getting will be apparent. Emphasis 
upon the idea of furnishing an important part of environ- 
ment is likely to lead to too much weight upon the mere 
acquisition of ideas about those experiences which the world 
has found valuable. Stress upon the necessity of providing 
proper stimulus to activity may lead to mere emptiness of 
content. But in the proper balance between the two ideas 
there is that vital relationship between " knowledge and 



The Course of Study 319 

virtue," between knowing and doing, which has been con- 
sciously sought since the time of Socrates and which must 
always be sought as long as there is any need of developing 
character through a process of education. 

In the schools of ancient Athens there was practical 
recognition of the fact that development depends upon doing 

as much as upon learning. In the philosophy 
i< T-t ^ • 1-1 1 J 1 BJid social 

of Rousseau as expressed m the moral growth activity as 
of Emile there is emphasis upon the fact that it is important 

fflctofs 

man's relation to his fellow men that is the founda- 
tion of moral character. If we put these two ideas together 
we shall have the fundamentals of character-building. 
AppUed to the course of study, this synthesis means that 
its function is to provide the organized and idealized environ- 
ment which represents what society values, that this ma- 
terial has the further function of leading to activity, and that 
if this activity is to have moral value it must be social in 
its nature. 

Because of its place in the formation of character and its 
value as an index of growth and culture, interest should 

receive special attention in a discussion of the use 

'^ operative 

of the course of study as a means of character- through 
building. Since the time of Herbart there has "i^e^est; 
been a growing recognition of the validity of the idea that 
education must not merely use interests but that one of its 
chief functions is to create or develop them. Immaturity 
and narrowness of experience naturally mean Umited inter- 
ests. The child and the savage aUke, regardless of their 
instinctive curiosity, are without a great many of the inter- 
ests which are considered desirable in modern society. Lack 
of interest means also want of the most necessary source of 
development. This appHes as truly to the adult whose 
school days are behind him as to the child who is still receiv- 
ing the benefits of formal training. If the work of instruc- 
tion through the instrumentality of the course of study and 



320 The School as a Social Institution 

any other means at hand, can actually build up what Herbart 
calls a many-sided interest, it will serve not only to develop 
the pupil but also to insure his growth after he leaves the 
school. 

The Course of Study as a Means of Awakening Social 
Consciousness, Even though children are said to be exceed- 
... ingly individualistic, it is certainly true that they 
used as a have very early some of the beginnings of a reali- 
meaiisof zation of their relationships with the groups of 

awakening ^ o t- 

social con- which they are parts. But this type of social 
sciousness ; consciousness is very circumscribed, limited as it 
is to the range of childish experiences. It is the function 
of the course of study to help the pupil rise to a conscious- 
ness of his place in the great world of humanity. From the 
select material which is presented in history, geography, 
literature, and mathematics he is to get a view of the real 
world of human achievement; and through the reliving 
of many of the experiences which have been necessary in 
the development of the race, he is to begin to feel himself 
a part in this wonderful process of evolution. 

In his work on The Social Principles of Education, Betts 
points out that one of the essentials in the development of 
social consciousness is having a basis of common experience. 
" The basis of any deep sense of relationship is the realiza- 
tion of a common experience. We expect sympathy and 
understanding only from those who have had experience 
similar to our own. Those who have together gone through 
common hardships or dangers thereafter feel a bond of rela- 
tionship. Persons uniting in a common cause find themselves 
drawn closer together personally. Soldiers feel a special 
interest in soldiers, artists in artists, and inventors in inven- 
tors. Membership in a common society, fraternal order, 
or church serves as a ground for personal acquaintance and 
relationship. Even so shght a basis of common experi- 
ence as having had ancestors who were in the war of the 



The Course of Study 321 

Revolution creates the feeling of relationship sufficient for 
the founding of an organization united only by this bond. 
Common experience is therefore the meeting-ground where 
the consciousness of relationship and companionship emerges. 
It is the ground upon which the individual must meet so- 
ciety and come to realize his part in the drama that is going 
on about him." (Page 236.) 

Through the instrumentality of the course of study, then, 
as one important means the children of to-day are to gain a 
deepening appreciation of what it means to be a member of 
society in various degrees of significance. As the homely 
affairs of everyday life tend to give some understanding of 
what it means to be a member of the family, the material 
which is presented in the course of study ought to help in 
reahzing those wider relationships which bind the individual 
to his community, to his country, and to humanity. That 
this is not the result of momentary contact with the curricu- 
lum, but the development of years of study of that mate- 
rial, hardly demands special emphasis. 

The Course of Study as a Means of Social Adjustment. 
All that has been said concerning the function of the course 
of study as a means of supplying an organized and . 

11 IS & liiCslIlS 

idealized environment, of broadening the content of social 
of experience, of providing the stimulus to profit- adjustment 
able activity, of building character, and of developing social 
consciousness may now be summed up in the statement 
that the chief function of the course of study is to aid in the 
process of adjustment, social and individual. This is the 
view which fits Home's conception of education^ as the 
" superior adjustment of a physically and mentally developed 
conscious human being to his intellectual, emotional, and 
volitional environment." 

This adjustment of the individual to the world of which 

^Philosophy of Education, p. 150. 



322 The School as a Social Institution 

he is a part has also its parallel in the gradual modification 
of society itself as present and future needs are realized or 
foreseen. What is taught in the schools is not only one of 
the factors determining what the individual is to become; 
it is also a force in directing the course of states and nations. 

The adjustment of the individual to his environment is 
brought about through the use of the curriculum for three 
related ends. In the first place, the remaking of experience 
as represented by the subject matter of education gives the 
individual an increasing command of himself, thus making 
it possible for him to fit more effectively and satisfactorily into 
his surroundings. In the second place, the use of this ma- 
terial in the development of interests, attitudes, and ideals 
serves the same purpose. Finally, the knowledge of the 
world of things and of men serves as a means of guiding the 
individual in the use of his growing powers and in the appli- 
cation of his interests, attitudes, and ideals. 

It is only recently that much attention has been paid to 
the third of these ideas in any way except the intellectual. 
The intei- ^^^ moral, and the religious. The need of furnish- 
lectuai, the ing a body of knowledge that will be of value in 
the^eiirious g^i^ii^g the individual in making himself fit into 
must be the world of vocations has not been generally rec- 
mented by ognized ; or if it has been, the work of providing 
the voca- that knowledge has been left rather to the home 
°° and the world of industry than to the school. 

Now in addition to actual elementarj^ experience in various 
kinds of vocations which is being introduced here and there, 
attempts are being made to modify the traditional subjects 
in the course of study in such a manner as to give boys and 
girls a better idea of the significance of vocations, especially 
in their relation to human achievement. A promising sign 
is to be found in the fact that this movement is not con- 
fined to the large cities of the country ; for in view of the 
continual shifting of population it is just as necessary for 



The Course of Study 323 

the children in small cities and towns and even in the coun- 
try to have some famiharity with the work of the world as it 
is for the children of the large cities. 

Perhaps it will come about that this new attention to life 
vocations which are not primarily intellectual, that is, to the 
industrial, commercial, domestic, and agricultural, will 
have some influence in breaking down the old idea that the 
only truly respectable occupations are those in which it is 
not necessary to resort to manual labor. Booker Washing- 
ton is reported to have said that after the Civil War the 
emancipated negro's idea of the most desirable education 
was to study Latin ! Ludicrous as this seems, the negro 
was not alone in his conception of the nature of education. 
There is still a tremendously strong belief that to be " edu- 
cated " means to be transformed into a creature who is 
reheved of the disagreeable necessity of soihng his hands 
with homely daily toil. 

Professor J. B. Sears of Leland Stanford University has 
contributed some valuable material to illustrate this tend- 
ency. In a study of the " Occupations of Fa- ^ uiustra- 
thers and Occupational Choices of 1039 Boys in tionofthe 
Grades Seven and Eight of the Oakland Schools," ""'^ 
he found that boys not only do not have a noticeable ambi- 
tion to follow in the footsteps of their fathers but also are 
too much attracted toward the professions. Some of his 
conclusions are as follows : — 

In detail the choices of the boys are not especially wise, judged by 
the occupational distribution of their fathers, and in respect to some 
of the most prominent occupations this unwisdom is pronounced. 

In general there is some evidence that the boys may realize 
their ambitions, but no substantial tendency toward normal distri- 
bution even by groups. 

By far too large a percentage of the boys wished to enter the 
professions. 

The boys tend largely to select some occupation other than that 
of their own fathers. 



324 The School as a Social Institution 

On the whole a large class of the boys need general training 
either looking toward a profession or toward an untechnical occu- 
pation. 

The demand for trade, commercial, and agricultural training 
exists clearly in the minds of the boys. {School and Society, 
May 22, 1915.) 

It may or may not be true that this study of more than a 
thousand California boys represents the general tendency 
in regard to the matters investigated ; but it seems very 
probable that the conclusions of Sears would be justified 
by a similar study of boys in almost any section of the coun- 
try. At any rate it is evident that the subject matter in 
our schools might profitably be modified in such a way as 
to give boys and girls a better idea of the things which they 
can do and like to do and also more insight into the character 
of the work that is to be done in the world with some ap- 
preciation of the opportunity or lack of it in the various 
occupations. 

In concluding this discussion of the function of the course 
of study as one of the means of bringing about proper in- 
The course dividual and social adjustment, we shall go back 
of study is a to the idea of making it possible for society itself, 
buTnot ' particularly the state or the nation, to adjust 
omnipotent itself to the pressing needs of the present and to 
whidTthe *^® foreseen needs of the future. The history of 
state can the past half century has shown that a nation 
to changhig which has an ambition to expand its trade in the 
needs and markets of the world can make remarkable 
ideals adjustments to that end by modifying the course 

of study in certain types of schools in such a manner 
as to fit that purpose. It has been demonstrated that 
a country which desires industrial efficiency has at hand 
in the possible nature of the materials offered for study a 
means of realizing that ambition. What has been accom- 
plished by Denmark, Germany, and France in agricultural, 



The Course of Study ■ 325 

commercial, and industrial fields gives hope that the use of 
the materials of education in the fight of society against 
disease, poverty, crime, and immorality will not be fruitless. 
On the other hand, however, too much confidence should 
not be placed upon the mere presence of certain kinds of 
material in the course of study. There are too many other 
elements which have to be considered to make it wise to 
beUeve that our whole hope of social salvation lies there. 

Principles Underlying the Selection of Subject 

Matter 

While the nature of subject matter is always changing 
more or less gradually, there are special times of transition 
during which everything comes under scrutiny and 
httle or nothing is accepted because it has the extreme 
force of tradition behind it. We are now in such conserva- 
a period. Much of the traditional material has treme 
already been thrown upon the intellectual junk radicalism 
heap and all of it is under suspicion. To a cer- middle 
tain type of mind the fact that a thing has been ground of 
found good in the past is sufficient reason for its 
being treasured in the present; while to the opposite 
type the mere coming down with the customs and tradi- 
tions of the past is good ground for demanding something 
different. Between these two extremes is a middle ground 
of reason, which it is the purpose of this section to discuss. 
As a preHminary to the general discussion, however, it is 
necessary to take up two theories which have had a great 
influence in the selection of subject matter : the disciphnary 
conception and the culture epoch theory. 

The Disciplinary Conception. Since the very aggressive 
attacks made upon the theory of discipline within the past 
few years, it is rather difficult to get a statement which both 
its advocates and its opponents will admit is an adequate 
expression of its essential features. Some of the outposts 



326 The School as a Social Institution 

which the opponents have attacked and destroyed the de- 
fenders of the main idea now say they never held. How- 
Th di ci 6ver, the following is perhaps a fair statement of 
piinary con- the theory : The mind is of such a nature that 
*^d**^°ti °^ ^* ^^^ ^^^^ certain desirable general characteristics 
offers a through proper training in special subjects ; certain 
basis for the well-organized studies are better adapted to this 

selechon of " ^ 

subject end than others, — the formal rather than the 
matter content subjects, generally speaking ; there is 

special value in those subjects which demand voluntary 
attention, in contrast with those which are so intrinsically 
interesting that they resemble entertainment more than hard 
disagreeable work. 

It is not the purpose here to criticize this theory from the 

psychological point of view ; although the main attack upon 

it has been upon the ground that there is not 

Psychoio^- sufficient evidence for the belief that there is a 

cal consid- 
erations are Satisfactory amount of general gain from par- 

here disre- ticular kinds of work. All that is to be done here 

garded . • i i r. • • 

IS to examme the theory from the point of view 

of its effects upon the selection of the materials that com- 
pose the course of study. 

Plato, who formulated the theory, used it as a basis for 
selecting those disciplines which would furnish the necessary 
_,, ,. mental training for the select few who by the 

The theory . ° . i i- 

haditsjusti- possession of a "sixth sense" were capable of 
fication in apprehending ideas and using them. To provide 

8.11 flnstO" ^ 

cratic idea this training he selected subjects such as arith- 
of society metic, geometry, music, astronomy, and dialectic, 
none of which should be treated from the practical point 
of view, but from the theoretical. Arithmetic was to be 
studied, " not as cultivating it with a view to buying and 
selling, as merchants and shopkeepers, but for purposes 
of war and to facilitate the conversion of the soul itself 
from the changeable to the true and the real." And so with 



The Course of Study 327 

other subjects of study. In regard to the natural sciences 
he says : " I cannot conceive that any science makes the 
soul look upward, unless it has to do with the real and 
invisible. It makes no difference whether a person stares 
stupidly at the sky, or looks with half-shut eyes upon the 
ground ; so long as he is trying to study some sensible object, 
I deny that he can ever be said to have learned anything ; 
because no objects of sense admit of scientific treatment ; 
and I maintain that his soul is looking downwards, not up- 
wards, though he may be lying on his back, Uke a swimmer, 
to study, either in the sea or on dry land." (Republic, 
Book VII.) 

For the workers, Plato had a different scheme of educa- 
tion ; but we are not here interested in that, as it is founded 
upon practical utility and not upon the theory of discipline. 

The theory as originally applied by Plato and afterwards 
by its supporters is essentially aristocratic. It offers little 
for the solution of the educational problems of a 
democracy which must reach all classes, whether ^* ^^^? °°* 

•^ . . ' seem to 

they are capable of rising to the level of abstract offer much 
thought or not. The child of to-day must learn to jj,^^^f ti!e' 
adjust himself to a practical world of industry, problems of 
of poUtics, of various social relationships. The * ^^moc- 

^ ' ^ racy; 

quest for the abstract, the theoretical, the gen- 
eral, as such, apart from the concrete and practical does 
not promise much for the masses. Subject matter which 
is selected wholly or principally for the purpose of providing 
mental discipline does not seem likely to help very much in 
the modern warfare against disease, povertj-, maladjustment, 
and immorality. 

If the theory of discipline is not used to justify an abstract 
and outworn course of study but to suggest the possibility 
of developing certain attitudes and ideals that concern the 
life of to-day, there is no good reason why it should not be 
used as one of the principles governing the selection of 



328 The School as a Social Institution 

materials of study. The great trouble, however, is that the 

theory is used to justify a kind of subject matter which 

, , ., commonsense and practical experience both con- 

but it may , "^ ^ 

have a sub- demn. But if reduced to a very subordmate place 
ordinate jj^ educational theory, it may be useful to a certain 

place in ...... 

modern degree in guidmg in the selection of those studies 
^^ which, in the words of Plato, " make the soul 

look upward." Interpreted as a phase of asceticism the 
doctrine will always make a strong appeal to the large 
number of people who have that spirit ; for while organized 
asceticism, in the form of monasticism, for example, is rela- 
tively unimportant to-day, there is still in human life much 
of that old desire to undergo discipline. Even people who 
are not noted for their religious fervor feel its power. But 
all this concerns adults rather than children. If adults wish 
to impose disciplinary studies upon themselves it is very 
proper that they should do so ; but it is no longer considered 
wise to use the old theory as the chief guiding principle in 
the selection of material for children to study. 

The Culture Epoch Theory. In contrast with the dis- 
ciplinary conception, which is philosophical in its origin 
Th uit ^^^ religious in its medieval development, stands 
epoch the culture epoch theory, which is a product of 

theory offers ^^le modern evolutionary conception of the uni- 
a plan of . . 

selection verse. Stated in very simple language, the 
based upon ^jjgQj.y ig ^^^t as the evolution of the human race 

the evolu- "^ 

tionary represents a succession of culture epochs, the 

conception development of the human individual proceeds 

through a series of stages which parallel those of the 

race. The corollary of the theory, that the proper material 

for the child in any stage of his mental development is to 

be taken from the culture of the race in the corresponding 

period, furnishes a principle upon which the selection of the 

subject matter may possibly be based. The theory has had 

considerable influence, partly because the analogy sounds 



The Course of Study 329 

convincing, partly because the conception is poetic, and 
partly because there has seemed to be some magic in the 
sentence, "Ontogeny parallels phylogeny," which is a com- 
prehensive statement of the doctrine of recapitulation, the 
matrix of the culture epoch theory. As a thoroughgoing 
social basis for the selection and organization of subject 
matter it admits no peer. 

As the theory is interpreted it means that at a certain 
stage of his development, the child is like primitive man in 
his nature and interests ; that at this time his education 
should be based upon these activities which characterized 
the race in that stage of evolution, idealized of course and 
purged of evil. At a later time the child reaches the stage 
of the Greeks of the Homeric period, when the stories of 
the Odyssey can be used in his education. Thus the child, 
from stage to stage of his growth, becomes civilized through 
the use of the materials which the race has produced in its 
development of civilization. 

Whether the theory be true or not, it is very difficult 
of application. The lines of progress of the human race 
are known only in a general way; likewise, the 
stages of child development are by no means tion is^L-*^* 
absolutely known. Different races have pro- tremeiy 
ceeded at different rates of speed, just as different 
individuals now develop at different rates. It is very diffi- 
cult, if not impossible, to state what school year, for example, 
parallels the American Indian culture of the time of Colum- 
bus. It is obviously necessary to eliminate those aspects 
of earlier culture which are now considered criminal, immoral, 
and anti-social. 

To attempt to apply the theory literally and consistently 
would be to fall into most absurd practices. In learning 
to express ideas in some permanent form, the j . . 

child would begin with making cairns, tying knots to absurd 
in string, and making pictures ; as such are the p''**^*^*^®^ 



330 The School as a Social Institution 

primitive methods of giving ideas permanent expression. 
Then he would proceed along the mysterious road by which 
pictures were transformed into conventional signs, first 
representing ideas and later coming to stand for sounds. 
Thus eventually he would reach the modern alphabet in 
use in his country. 

But even where such obvious absurdities are avoided it 
has never been possible to apply the theory consistently. 
Whatever the developing instinctive interests of 
idea con- * ^^Y individual child may be, he is a part of the 
sistentiyina modern civilization which surrounds him and 
environ- gives color to his whole life. And such appli- 
ment seems cations of the theory as have been made seem 
impossi e ^^ ^^ fundamentally only an attempt to make it 
possible to realize the meaning of the complexities of mod- 
ern civilized life through an introductory study of the simpler 
elements represented in primitive times. That is to say, 
these apparent applications are really not based upon the 
culture epoch theory at all. When the child is getting a 
basis for understanding modern industrial life through a 
study of primitive industries, he is no more exemplifying 
the culture epoch theory than is a sociologist who makes 
a study of primitive marriage customs for the sake of throw- 
ing light upon the modern institution of matrimony; al- 
though it is true that the child is not interested in weaving, 
for example, for the reason that he knows that it is one of 
the simple elements of modern industry, while the sociologist 
may make his study of primitive customs solely because he 
finds them interesting, or more probably, because he looks 
upon them as a part of the basis for interpreting modern 
life. 

It may further be said that the social interests which ap- 
peal to a child are more likely to be those of his own en- 
vironment than those of a remote age. An understanding 
of simple industries is wrought out of the activities which 



The Course of Study 331 

center in childish interest in people of to-day just as easily 
as out of the interest in cavemen, nomads, and ^j^^ g^^..^ 
primitive hunterfishers. Moreover we can be rela- environment 
tively certain of the activities and needs of the enUs^a^bet- 
present ; while the anthropologist has not yet ter basis for 
been able to give us a very clear insight into the ^^teriaf 
mind of primitive man. than our 

With all its difficulties and dangers of incon- ceptionTof 
sistency and absurdity the culture epoch theory primitive 
does not seem a very reliable basis for the selection ® 
of material for a course of study or for its arrangement. 

The Principles of Selection a Process of Harmonizing 
Ideas. The present tendency in the attempt to establish 
a theoretical basis for the selection of the ma- 
terials for a course of study is to avoid any single Selection of 
principle such as the disciplinary conception or must be 
the culture epoch theory and to try to discover ^^^^^ "Po° 

<•! • <•! 1-1* harmom- 

in the nature of the society of to-day and m the zation of 
capacities of the individual a group of ideas vanous con- 

, . , r 1 1 » fiicfang ideas 

which can be regarded as fundamental. As a 
result of this we are thrown back upon the necessity of 
applying the old Greek ideal of harmony, all things in due 
proportion. We shall now take up the discussion of a series 
of these ideas which express fundamental necessities, but 
which must be limited in application by other ideas, equally 
important, although of a more or less conflicting character. 
I. Social Needs vs. Individual Capacities. If the aim 
of education is to be realized, the extent to which subject 
matter can contribute to that result will depend 
upon the degree of its adaptation to those ends of study"* 
which we set up as the aim. As the modern mustem- 

,. e 1 J.* • 1 • ±1 •! phasize the 

conception oi education is predominantly social, social con- 
the material selected for the course of study ceptionof 

life* 

should emphasize that idea. This is the first prin- 
ciple in the selection of studies and in the making of curricula. 



332 The School as a Social Institution 

But in contrast with this need of emphasis of the social 
nature of the material selected is the fact that the capacities 
u X xu of the individual must be considered. No matter 

but the 

capacities of how rich the social content of a course of study 
the pupil j^g^y |-jg^ ^£ "I- jg ^Q^ adapted to the varying abilities 

due con- of the children for whom it is intended, it cannot 
sideration j-^^ expected to result in any satisfactory kind of 
social or individual adjustment. While the problem of 
securing this adaptation to individual capacities is one for 
the psychologist to solve, the need for the solution is largely 
social; for to provide material which seems to have social 
value but which cannot be assimilated by the children to 
whom it is given is to defeat the whole purpose of education. 
The extent to which social needs demand individual 
adaptation of subject matter, or at least group adaptation, 

may be seen in the problem of providing the best 
of materids ^^^terial for the education of both sexes. In 
for boys and part the problem is psychological and concerns 
ttpeiy^must^' ^^^ differences ; but in a larger sense it is socio- 
be based logical and involves the respective social func- 
sodai and tions of men and women. The historical develop- 
psychoiogi- ment of the education of women and girls shows 
ations"^' ^^ more attention to demonstrating that they are 

able to do intellectual work as well as their broth- 
ers than to discovering the kinds of material which are 
best suited to them in the fields where their social func- 
tions are unique. The struggle for equal rights in educa- 
tion has therefore tended to create a demand for the same 
material as that of schools for men ; but now that the right 
of girls and women to formal education is recognized, it 
should be possible to devote some attention to the selection 
of that material which promises most in producing the type 
of woman who is not merely a human being but also a woman. 
It is not longer necessary to make girls study the abstrac- 
tions of higher mathematics merely for the sake of showing 



The Course of Study 333 

that they can pass examinations with marks as high as 
those of boys. But it is becoming more and more evident 
that the welfare of society demands that girls and women 
have an adequate training in those functions which fall to 
their lot, whether determined by biology or modern industrial 
conditions. All that has been said of the education of girls 
applies in similar manner to that of boys. 

Between the doctrine that the whole range of subjects 
studied should grow out of the interests of the individual 
and the theory that social needs and standards determine 
absolutely what should be presented, there is an Aristotehan 
Golden Mean which the course of study should approximate. 
The result can be obtained only through harmonizing the 
contributions of sociology in regard to the understanding 
of social needs with those of psychology in regard to the 
interests, capacities, and manner of development of the in- 
dividual. The course of study must be selected for both 
social and psychological reasons. 

2. Past Culture vs. Present Social Activities. While 
the school came down into modern times laden with the 
ancient classical literature of the Greeks and 
Romans and the religious literature of the Jews, change has 
scornful of the idea that there could be anything come in the 
good in the social life and institutions of the im- educators 
mediate present, and hostile to the introduction toward the 
of the vernacular even as a language of instruc- ^*^ 
tion, the appreciation of the worth of the life that now is 
with its institutions and culture has become so great that 
at the present time the ancient literatures are having a 
hard fight to keep even a very subordinate place in the 
course of study. Instead of suspecting the present we now 
suspect the past. We are inclined to demand that what- 
ever has the smell of age upon its garments justify its claim 
to a place among the living, that it demonstrate that it should 
not at once be decently interred ; while we are becoming 



334 The School as a Social Institution 

somewhat accustomed to the behef that whatever studies 
are based upon the activities of the present must because of 
that fact have true worth. 

In some subjects of the course it is impossible to distin- 
guish past from present. In the field of mathematics, for 
The line example, number relationships and geometrical 
between properties are not different now from what they 

present is ^^^^ ^^ *^^ ^^^^ °^ Pythagoras ; but in the mat- 
not always ter of application there is great difference. Even 
*^^" within the past quarter century there has been 

a great change in regard to the kind of material upon which 
children are required to use the unchanging fundamental 
facts of number. In a case of this kind the distinction has 
to be made between the general ideas or principles which 
have been worked out in the past and the activities to which 
they are applied in the present. 

Shall we select material which is essentially a summary of 
the generalizations, principles, and ideals of the past? Or 
The process ^^all we choose subject matter which is repre- 
of education sentative of the present in which those principles 
ba^edupon ^^^ applied to activities with which the pupils 
harmony are reasonably familiar? Shall the child's knowl- 
pasr^iSture ^^^^ °^ arithmetic, reading, writing, geography 
and present be based upon material which is more or less re- 
sociai nee s j^Q^g jj^ ^jj^g qj. ^pon that which is taken from the 
social activities of the quite immediate present? Current 
practice seems to be approaching the idea of greater 
emphasis upon the present. But here as in the problem of 
the relation between social needs and individual capacities, 
the solution is a harmonizing of the two conflicting ideas. 
To disregard the past is to be without perspective ; to disre- 
gard the present is to be without that which gives meaning 
and worth to study. In the selection of subject matter, 
then, we need to pay attention to that which represents the 
life of the present, but to choose it and use it in such a way 



The Course of Study 335 

as to weave into it that culture which the race has struggled 
for ages to attain. With advancing maturity and increas- 
ing intellectual capacity we must gradually extend the 
boundaries of the present until those who have the talent 
and the interest, the historian, the poet, the philosopher, 
shall be able to grasp all humanity in the present tense. 

It is more important for the prospective citizen to know 
the workings of the local government than to understand 
the ramifications of the feudal system. It is present 
better for him to know how to make wheat grow need is in- 
than to learn that the ancients had various deities ^g^cuiture" 
who typified the forces of nature. But it would of the past 
be a very deplorable condition if we should be- "jjaTis of"*^ 
come so wrapped up in our little world of so-called immediate 
practical affairs that we should lose all regard for ^ "® 
the great ideals which animated the various peoples of 
the past. It is difficult to idealize the crudities of the 
concrete present. Not so with the past. This is illus- 
trated by the fact that we are likely to see only the 
littleness of our politicians of to-day ; while it is easy to 
appreciate the greatness of the founders of the Republic. 
The material in the course of study should be of such a na- 
ture as to give a familiarity with the activities of the pres- 
ent idealized by a study of the best of the past. 

A corollary of the general idea that the subject matter 
of education should be taken largely from the activities 
of the present, is that the country and the city 
must have courses of study which differ in many rural schools 
respects. The failure of the rural school to take ™"st 
a reasonable amount of material from the life differ in 
around it has been partly responsible for the many 
tendency of country children to become dissatis- ^ 
fied with the farm and seek the life of the city. To be sure, 
if the function of the rural school is conceived to be the 
training of prospective city-dwellers, there is no special 



336 The School as a Social Institution 

reason for making any effort to enrich its curriculum with 
the materials of country life. But as the idea grows that 
country life is very desirable, that the children of farmers 
ought to be educated in the affairs of the rural community, 
there is increasing recognition of the principle that the 
course of study ought to draw a great deal from the 
natural and social conditions which are characteristic of 
the country. 

But the country school should not stop with mere ele- 
mentary and vocational subjects. " Broad and permanent 
lines of interest must be set up and trained to include many 
forms of experience. The child must come to know some- 
thing of the great social institutions of his day and of the 
marvelous scientific discoveries and inventions underlying 
our modern civilization. He must be led to feel apprecia- 
tion for the beautiful in art, literature, and music ; and 
must have nurtured in his life a love for goodness and truth 
in every form." (Betts, New Ideals in Rural Schools, 
page 63.) 

The utilization of the material offered by the social activ- 
ities of the present and the adaptation of that material to 
current needs suggests the necessity of a careful 
A careful survey of the entire field. We saw in our study 

and cntical "^ . . "^ 

study of the of the Origin of the course of study that growth 
entire field j^^^g generally come through the efforts of groups 
of people interested in some particular subject, 
such as drawing, manual training, or music. It is obvious 
that this is a very haphazard method of securing proper 
material. The scientific method of doing such work requires 
that there shall be a careful study of the entire field in such 
a manner as to show what the schools might teach, what 
they actually offer, and what the needs of the present and 
future demand. 

The relationship which exists between the community 
and society at large offers a very interesting problem : To 



The Course of Study 337 

what extent shall the material be drawn from the immediate 

surroundings of the school and to what extent from the life 

of the nation or the race? Expressed in another form, the 

problem is : How much adaptation should be made to local 

conditions in modifying the uniform minimum 

1 1 • 1 • ^ e i- -J. Shall educa- 

curriculum which is made for an entire city or jjoq ^g 
state ? As there is a great deal of shifting from based upon 
community to community, from state to state, it tjonai con- 
is desirable to have the major portion of the ceptionsand 
course of study uniform enough that pupils who 
have to change from one school to another may do so 
without serious loss. Before the proper adjustment of 
the local and the general can be made it will be necessary 
to study and experiment for a long time. In fact as social 
conditions are continually changing, study and experiment 
of this kind will be necessary as long as we have any interest 
in the solution of our shifting problems. 

The present movement toward systematic school surveys 
promises to be of material assistance in solving the problems 
of selecting material adapted to local needs. Al- 
ready the movement is broadening so that in s^e^* 
some cases the field surveyed is not merely the promise 
school but the community. It is obvious that a solution of 
mere investigation of the work of the school with- this 
out a study of the activities of the people whom ^"^^ 
the school is to serve is altogether inadequate for an intelli- 
gent consideration of the extent to which the school is ful- 
filling its function in the community and state. A survey 
of the school alone will show how well the pupils are doing 
the prescribed work; but it will not show at all whether 
the course of study in use is adapted to the needs of the 
community. Only as a social survey accompanies the edu- 
cational survey is there any adequate basis for making or 
modifying the content of the course of study. The difficulty 
in the making of such an adjustment as is here suggested is 



338 The School as a Social Institution 

not a reason for not attempting it, but rather an argument 
for the necessity of doing it. 

After the material obtained by a survey is available, an 
interesting question arises in regard to the proper persons 
_,. J. or bodies to apply it to the making of the curric- 
tion of the ulum. Jessup has shown that in the past almost 
knowledge ^^y group of influential people who have had the 
through desire have been able to bring about the intro- 
smreys duction of almost any subject into the curriculum, 
difficult Under the forms of organization now in opera- 
problem ^Jqjj^ various boards and individuals have the 
responsibility of selecting the material used. It may be 
that the legislature prescribes all or part of the course of 
study, or that the state board of education does the work, 
or that the city board of education or the city superin- 
tendent has the responsibility. In any case, the persons 
who have most to do immediately with the presenta- 
tion of the course of study have little or nothing to say in 
regard to what shall be included in it or omitted from it : 
teachers are universally neglected in this matter. 

It is of the greatest interest to society that the making 

of the course of study shall be in the hands of the persons 

best fitted to render such a service. Laymen, 

ofthe^ourse members of boards of education, and representa- 

of study tives of various civic bodies, however good their 

should be in . , ,• ■, i£ i j.i • 

the hands intentions and unselfish their purposes, are gen- 
of experts, erally handicapped by a woeful ignorance of tech- 

who should • ^ ,• • J.I. u 1 • 1 

be aided by nical matters concerning the school in general 
laymen and and the course of study in particular ; although 
they may render valuable service in giving the 
point of view of the patrons of the school or that of so- 
ciety in general. Professional administrators of education, 
on the other hand, while they are familiar enough with the 
technical side of education, are not always keenly alive to 
the social needs of their communities or states. They have 



The Course of Study 339 

even been accused of having more interest in the smooth 
running of the machine which they control than in the more 
weighty matter of adjustment to social needs. Teachers, 
as a rule, manifest little interest in the making of curricula, 
partly because their outlook upon the world has been too 
limited to give them an adequate basis for judging what is 
suitable, partly because they are too much absorbed in 
methods, reports, and general school duties to have much 
time or energy available for a criticism of the course of 
study. 

The best results in the making of courses of study would 
undoubtedly come through the cooperation of the three 
groups mentioned : lay boards of education, professional 
administrators, and the teaching body. As superintendents 
and principals are the officials upon whom the burden of 
responsibility is placed, they should be immediately charged 
with the work ; but, as has just been said, they should have 
the cooperation of laymen on the one hand and that of class- 
room teachers on the other. 

3. A Broad vs. a Narrow Content of Education. While 
the word narrowness has about it the suggestion of the petty 
or intolerant, it also suggests the thorough ; and . 
breadth, with all its implication of the tolerant and is the out- 
wise, may mean mere superficiality. From the *^°™® °* * 
point of view of society in general, with its num- study too 
berless classes and needs, there is evident need of ^^"°'" 
a course of study which shall be broad enough to fit the 
capacities of all, whether they be of little or of much talent. 
The social effect of a narrow content of education is to elimi- 
nate from the schools all except a select few who have the 
peculiar type of mind necessary to master what is provided. 
The narrow humanistic education of the sixteenth, seven- 
teenth, and eighteenth centuries shows how the masses of 
people are deprived of the possibility of formal education 
when the course of study has little diversity. The elimina- 



340 The School as a Social Institution 

tion of pupils from the upper grades and from the high school 
illustrates the same thing. The old brutal idea that the 
child who did not have the ability or the taste necessary 
to pursue a narrow intellectual course of study successfully 
had no right to any kind of school career after he had done 
what he could with the " Three R's " is giving way to the 
more humane belief that every child, whatever his capacity, 
is entitled to the kind of training which is suited to his capac- 
ities. Society is beginning to realize that it cannot afford 
to waste human material simply because a traditional type 
of school does not offer the training necessary to the develop- 
ment of that material. Consequently the curriculum has 
been enriched and diversified. 

The enrichment of the curriculum, however, is attended by 
great possibilities of social waste. Where too much is 
offered, the individual is not only at a loss in re- 
gard to the matter of wise selection but also at a 
great disadvantage in the mastery of the most essential 
ideas, habits, and kinds of skill. Instead of gaining that 
which is most valuable to him and of most promise to so- 
ciety, he may have but a smattering of a great number of 
different fragments, none of which he can put to any profit- 
The ma- able use. 

teriaisof Qut of this grows the principle of selection 

should be that the course of study should be rich enough 
broad ^nd varied enough to meet the needs of all kinds 

meet the of children, but that it should, as applied to the 
needs of all individual, be narrow enough to make it pos- 
but, as'ap- sible for him to master it as far as a child can be 
plied to the expected to attain mastery of anything. There 
narrow ' should not be that breadth which results in super- 
enough to ficiality nor that narrowness which causes loss of 
mastery interest, retardation, and elimination, 
possible 4 Habit vs. Judgment and Ideals. If education 

is looked upon as the " organization of acquired habits of 



The Course of Study 341 

action such as will fit the individual to his physical and 
social environment," the material chosen to se- 
cure that result will have to be taken largely, if ^^j judt.** 
not entirely, from those phases of life which repre- ment are 
sent action on the plane of habit. On the con- our^mo7ern 
trary, if the aim is conceived as the formation of changiixg 
ideals and the development of judgment, broader conditions 
and richer material will have to be chosen. 

The importance of habit is so obvious that the course of 
study, especially in the elementary school, has always been 
made up of subjects the purpose of which is primarily 
habit-building. Arithmetic, reading, writing, drawing, oral 
and written composition, all are taught with this as the fun- 
damental idea ; while subjects like hygiene and morals, al- 
though often taught in such a way as merely to impart 
knowledge, are valuable principally as they assist in the 
formation of habits. 

In a large way, however, the character of society is such 
that adjustment upon the basis of habit is not completely 
satisfactory. The nature of habit is fixed, automatic ; 
while society is continually shifting. Children must be 
developed so that they can fit into an environment which 
is not static like the multiplication table, but which is grad- 
ually changing. It may be that life is made up of habit 
to the extent of seventy-five or even ninety per cent; but 
satisfactory Uving depends upon the ability to make adjust- 
ment upon the basis of judgment in the changing situations 
where habit is not adequate. The capacity for continually 
modifying adjustment is especially necessary in a country 
in which changes are as rapid and as frequent as in ours. 

The ability to adjust oneself easily and satisfactorily to 
an environment that is changing depends upon the posses- 
sion of a considerable body of knowledge and experience, 
assimilated and organized as judgments and ideals. The 
selection and arrangement of the material necessary to pro- 



342 The School as a Social Institution 

vide such a means of adjustment is largely a problem for 
the psychologist; although the need for doing such work 
is social as well as individual. The welfare of the State and 
the progress of society are immediately related to the ability 
of the individual to modify his activities according to chang- 
ing needs and conditions. 

The material of education, then, must be chosen in such 
a way as to develop a body of habits which will fit the indi- 
vidual to perform satisfactorily those numerous 
teriai of activities which are necessarily rather automatic ; 
education but the school must also provide subject matter 
selected as which wiU enable him to rise above the level of 
to develop a the habitual and adjust or readjust himself to a 
hereof '^"^ social life which is in process of evolution. In a 
habitual general way the large work of the elementary 
to make school is to furnish the material for habit forma- 
readjust- tion ; while that of the secondary school is to 
men easy pj-Qyide a type of subject matter which will serve 
the purpose of preparing to meet the problems of hfe 
in a larger way. It is not meant, to be sure, that either 
school shall be wholly characterized by a single type of 
material. But the immaturity of the child in the elementary 
school suggests that only a beginning in dealing with the 
latter type of studies can be expected of him ; while the rela- 
tive maturity of the high school student, his larger grasp 
of ideas, and his growing interest in the large problems of 
Hfe all demand that he shall receive a training which will 
enable him to go out into the world with an equipment 
superior to the mere possession of a body of organized habits. 

The two ideas must not be regarded as antagonistic or 
mutually exclusive. Much of the material which is used 
in the process of forming habits is the foundation of those 
general views of life which we call ideals. The two types of 
material naturally supplement each other ; and gaining the 
two kinds of results is very much a matter of method. 



The Course of Study 343 

5. Relative Values. As the amount of material for use 
in schools is far beyond the limits of time available, the 
selection of any subject or topic becomes a matter 
of judging its relative value. We have already ^^^ ^°"*" 
seen that the process of selecting material means amount of 
an attempt to harmonize such factors as social ™*t**"^ 

... . . . makes 

needs and individual capacities, the materials necessary a 
offered in present social activities and those fur- ^yf*®™ °^ 

^ _ selection 

nished by the past, richness of content and thor- based upon 
oughness, judgment and habit. In the end the '■^**^^« 
judgment of relative values must depend more 
upon the social conditions, needs, and activities of the pres- 
ent than upon any other standard. The course of study 
must reflect the values of everyday life. 

As the principle of relative values is appHed, various sub- 
jects drop from the curriculum, or take a secondary place 
among electives. Latin and Greek, not being able to stand 
the competition of subjects which seem to have greater 
present social value, are an example of this. Then too the 
topics which go to make up the material in any branch of 
study are subject to the action of the same principle. Such 
topics as equation of payments, cube root, duodecimals, 
and alligation in arithmetic have disappeared or are disap- 
pearing because they have not been able to prove an adequate 
social worth. 

The apphcation of the principle has also a positive side. 
Such subjects as music, handwork, drawing, and hygiene 
have forced their way into the course of study because they 
represent activities of relatively great importance in the life 
of to-day ; while new topics like life insurance, public health, 
municipal affairs, and the economic value of good roads are 
added for the same reason. 

There is considerable opposition to the newer subjects 
in the course of study, contemptuously called " fads and 
frills," because of a failure to understand the idea that 



344 The School as a Social Institution 

relative values in the school are based upon relative values 

in the activities of life. The school of earHer days, with its 

meager curriculum of the " Three R's," had its 

School work quite adequately supplemented by the in- 

values must ^ -^ j r-r- ^ 

be based formal training which children received in the 

upon life various activities of family and community, 
values . '' "^ 

Upon the schoolof to-day is placed the burden of 
supplying much of the training which was formerly received in 
these outside activities. But the process of uprooting the old 
idea that the school, especially the elementary school, need 
give the child only an intellectual training is a slow one. 
In the cities there is opposition to domestic science and 
various kinds of vocational training, in the country a failure 
to see the need of having the school teach anything in regard 
to farming. 

Summary 

As a result of the experience of the countless generations 
who have gone before us there has developed a wealth of 
material which has been adapted somewhat crudely to the 
work of education upon the basis of understood needs. 
WhUe this material is social in its nature, it has such a tend- 
ency to reproduce the past that it seems at times anti-social. 
This defect is remedied partly by forces which compel read- 
justment from time to time, — forces which are generally 
outside the school. The result is that subject matter as 
actually presented is a compromise between tradition and 
present needs. The function of the course of study is to 
provide material through which to realize the aims of edu- 
cation. To accompUsh this the following conditions are 
necessary : (1) It must provide a special environment, which 
is idealized and adapted to the learner ; (2) it must become 
a means of broadening experience; (3) it must provide a 
stimulus to activity, which must be based upon a sense of 
worth; (4) it must afford material for character-building, 



The Course of Study 345 

with knowledge and activity as important factors made 
operative by interest ; (5) it must be useful as a means of 
awakening social consciousness; and (6) it must furnish a 
basis for social adjustment, with the intellectual and moral 
supplemented by the vocational. 

The selection of subject matter may be based upon such 
theories as that of discipline and that of culture epochs ; but 
an adequate basis is to be found only in the harmonizing 
of many conflicting ideas. In the first place social needs 
and individual capacities must be balanced in such a way as 
to emphasize the social conception of life while giving due 
consideration to the interests and capacities of the individual. 
In the second place, the ideas of breadth and narrowness 
must be so utilized that the course of study will be broad 
enough to meet the needs of all classes, while narrow enough 
to make adequate individual mastery possible. Further- 
more, the apparent conflict between the processes of forma- 
tion of habits and development of judgment and ideals must 
be adjusted in a way that will provide an adequate basis 
of habit while developing the ideas and attitudes necessary 
to the readjustment of the individual to his changing social 
environment. Finally, the idea of relative values must 
have a definite place in the selection of material ; since the 
limitless amount of material furnished by human experience 
is far beyond the possibility of actual school use. In general, 
school values must be based upon recognized life values. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Bagley, W. C, Educational Values. Chapter VII. 
Betts, G. H., New Ideals in Rural Schools. Chapter III. 
Betts, G. H., Social Principles of Education. Chapter X, The 

Curriculum. 
Dewey, John, Democracy and Education. Chapter XIV, The 

Nature of Subject Matter. 
Dewey, John, Moral Principles in Education. Chapter IV, The 

Social Nature of the Course of Study. 



346 The School as a Social Institution 

Earhart, Lida B., Types of Teaching. Chapter I, Subject Matter. 
Eliot, C. W., Changes Needed in American Secondary Education. 
Felter, W. L., On Reconstructing the Curriculum in Secondary 

Schools. Educational Review, XLVIII, 37-48. 
Flexner, Abraham, A Modern School. 
Gillette, J. M., Vocational Education. Part III. 
Jessup, W. a.. Social Factors Affecting Special Supervision in the 

Public Schools of the United States. 
Johnston, C. H., The Modern High School. Chapter XIII, 

Socialized High School Currieulums. (C. A. Scott.) 
McMuRRY, Frank, Elementary School Standards. 
McMuRRY, Frank, Principles for Making School Curricula. 

Teachers College Record, Sept., 1915, pages 1-10. 
MooRE, Ernest C, What is Education? Chapter III, The 

Doctrine of General Discipline. 
Smith, W. R., Introduction to Educational Sociology. Chapter XIV, 

The Socialization of the Program of Studies. 
Strayer, G. D., and Thorndike, E. L., Educational Administra- 
tion. Section 14, The Elementary School Curriculum. 



CHAPTER XIII 
THE COURSE OF STUDY: THE PARTS 



The object of the course of study is undoubtedly to put at the 
disposal of the student that body of concepts, methods, and reports 
of percepts which, when made his own by use, will enable him to 
shape his conduct with a minimum of wasteful experimenting, 
in ways which the race has found to bring profitable results. Every 
subject in it gained its place there because of its manifest utility at 
the time it was admitted. But the changing universe has run 
away from some of the studies. They have lost their utiUty, but 
they still keep their place in the course as though they retained it. 
— E, C. Moore, What is Education? page 217. 



Religion 



In their origin schools show the reUgious interest as a 
very frequent point of beginning. The earhest schools owed 
their existence to the necessity of estabUshing some 
kind of institution which should give that formal ^a^g ^e^n 
training in the mysteries of hfe which society in oi utmost 
general and the family could no longer give in a ["the ev" 
satisfactory manner. The schools which were the lution of the 
immediate forerunners of those of modern times 
grew out of the work of the Christian Church and naturally 
were fundamentally rehgious in their character. Through- 
out the Middle Ages the entire intellectual subject matter of 
education was subordinate to the religious. In early modern 
times, the same condition prevailed. Even in America the 
early schools emphasized the necessity of centering the entire 

347 



348 The School as a Social Institution 

work of education in the religious idea. Consequently the 
material was predominantly biblical. 

Since the time of the Reformation, however, great social 

changes have so modified the nature of the work of the 

school that the institution which owed its origin to 

changes reHgion now gives little or no attention to that 

have come gubiect. As society was split into numerous sects, 

since the j ^ r- j 

Reforma- and as there arose a type of school maintained by 
*^°° the State for all children, it became more and 

more difficult to provide religious instruction that would be 
satisfactory to all the elements of the population who were 
represented in the schools. In the German states, as has 
been shown in the chapter on Private Schools, the solution 
of the problem has been the keeping of religion in the course 
of study but having it taught by teachers who were of the 
faith of the parents of the children to whom they gave instruc- 
tion, — Protestant children being taught by Protestant 
teachers, Catholic by Catholic, and Jewish by Jewish. In 
the various states of the American Union another solution 
has been found, — that of avoiding the whole question, 
reHgion being no part of the curriculum of the pubhc school. 
However, the states place no obstacle in the way of those 
denominations which wish to maintain schools in which 
rehgion is taught in addition to the usual secular subjects 
to the children of parents who are unwilling to have them 
educated in the " godless " schools maintained at pubHc 
expense. In France the Associations Act of 1904 suppressed 
all schools taught by members of refigious orders, thus making 
the secular schools supreme ; but the law does not prevent 
the Church from giving rehgious instruction over and above 
and apart from the day school. 

The question which is fundamental in the whole problem 
of religious instruction as a part of the work of the ordinary 
secular school is, Can an institution, so organized and 
equipped, actually teach religion? The experience of the 



The Parts 349 

German states shows that while it is possible to teach about 
rehgion it is difficult if not impossible to accomplish the 
end that is really sought. Formahsm, scepticism, ^^^ ^^^^ 
and indifference, three common results of the kind public 
of instruction which is given in state schools, ^eaii°^ 
make it seem that the attempt to teach religion teach 
by giving it a place among the secular subjects is '"^^^^lon? 
productive of more harm than good. Knowledge about reli- 
gion is no more religion than knowledge of hygiene is health ; 
and knowledge of the Bible is no more religion than knowledge 
of the great composers is music. So elusive a matter is rehgion 
that very often the effort to create it destroys the possibility 
of its existence in any satisfactory manner. Although it 
may be possible for the school to provide children a knowledge 
of the theories of theology, the facts concerning the lives of 
notable religious men and women, the details of sacred 
history, it is much more difficult to make that appeal to the 
emotions and the will without which religion does not spring 
into being. The experience of generations of well meaning 
people who have tried to teach religion in an intellectual way 
shows that we need not delude ourselves with the idea that 
giving children a knowledge of the content of rehgious books 
will result in making them truly religious. 

In view of these facts it seems clear that the school, as 
it is generally constituted, is not the institution to solve 
the problem of religious education. To attempt 
to have religion taught along with other subjects ^as failed 
is one of the surest ways of defeating its real ends, as an in- 
Perhaps the school would be a better institution giving reli- 
if it were so organized that religious development e^ous edu- 
would parallel the intellectual; but with the 
present constitution of society, with the many conflicting 
ideals and interests, the incorporation of religion into the 
course of study appears to be a difficult if not impossible 
plan. 



350 The School as a Social Institution 

A very illuminating example of the failure of the school 
to solve the problem of religious instruction is found in the 
The Bible history of the Bible as a subject of study. In 
in schools colonial days, the one book which all children were 
sure to study if they learned to read was the Bible. That 
was the book to which all denominations gave allegiance, 
no matter how widely they differed nor how fiercely antago- 
nistic they were. In the early days of the Republic the same 
conditions prevailed ; but since about 1840 there has been 
a decided falling away from the former practice. While 
the Bible is still read in the public schools of most of our 
states, such reading is usually an opening or a closing exer- 
cise, in which there is no comment, explanation, or applica- 
tion by the teacher. Whether or not the Bible shall be read 
is generally determined by local authorities. Children whose 
parents object to attendance upon such reading are gen- 
erally excused. And in general the reading is Hkely to be 
a formal matter, lacking almost entirely those elements 
of moral and reUgious value for the sake of which the Bible 
is supposed to be read. 

The Bible being practically eliminated from the public 
school as a result of sectarianism, there remains the possibil- 
ity of arranging such a course of study in religion 
erai course as will combine those elements upon which all 
m religion, religions agree. In spite of the growing spirit of 
to all sects, liberality and tolerance, it does not seem very 
be devised ? \{]^Q\y ^\^q^ qH denominations will be able to agree 
upon a course of minimal essentials ; or if they do agree, 
it seems quite probable that the resulting body of religious 
ideas will be so general as to fail to appeal to any denomina- 
tion as an actual working scheme of religious instruction. 

The importance of rehgion as a social force and the ap- 
parent futility of any effort to make it an effective part of 
the public school curriculum has led to the formulation of a 
plan by which it is possible for children to have instruction 



The Parts 351 

in religion as a regular part of their training, but without 
placing the burden upon the pubUc school. This ^j^^ school 
plan is to have the school program arranged in may leave 
such a way as to make it possible for children to Qf\^° p^^° 
go to properly authorized teachers of religion and lem with the 
receive this important training under conditions •^^"^'^^^^ 
that are more conducive to religious feehngs than is the 
ordinary school environment. 

Where this plan meets the approval of the community it 
promises much as a solution of a very difficult problem ; for 
with it the children are given reUgious instruction regularly, 
in contrast with the general spasmodic character of that 
work when attendance depends upon the caprice of children, 
the hour at which parents arise on Sunday morning, and the 
various personal and seasonal factors which affect the Sunday 
School. Furthermore, the work of instruction is placed in the 
hands of persons whose chief interest is religious, rather than 
those who look upon such instruction as an added burden to be 
borne with as httle irksomeness as possible. The plan, how- 
ever, cannot work successfully where there is much danger of 
creating sectarian feeUng among the children as a result of 
having the grouping according to denominational lines made 
obvious day after day. Here as everywhere it is evident that 
one of the greatest obstacles to the growth of religion is 
sectarianism. The spirit of rehgious rivalry, now as in the 
past, is one of the most irreHgious of human characteristics. 

The outlook for the future does not offer any promise of 
the restoration of rehgion to its former place in all schools. 
The hope that every child will receive this impor- 
tant training as a fundamental part of his de- ^^^^ n^t 
velopment depends for its fulfillment upon the promise 
family, the Church, and such institutions as the deviation 
Sunday School and the parochial school. The from present 
problem is one which the Church not the public ^^^'^ 
school must solve. 



352 The School as a Social Institution 

That various denominations are making a conscientious 
effort to provide a type of subject matter which is adapted 
to the capacities and needs of children is shown by attempts 
to depart from the old uniform lessons for all pupils of the 
Sunday School, infant and adult alike. The sentimental 
strength of the idea that a desirable unity is expressed by the 
fact that millions of attendants are all studying the same 
lesson on the same day is giving way somewhat to the prac- 
tice of having Sunday School lessons selected and arranged 
upon some basis which has reference to the nature and needs 
of the different stages of development among the pupils. 
With the growing belief that the work of the Sunday School 
is to develop the religious nature of the child, rather than to 
teach the whole Bible, there is promise of much improvement. 

As for the parochial school, the success of its work depends 
more upon the character of the teachers than upon the nature 
of the rehgious literature which is the basis of its work. 
To teach children catechism or denominational history is 
not to make them rehgious. As has been said before, the 
sum total of the results of such instruction is quite as hkely 
to be formalism or indifference as it is to be vital rehgion. 
As this discussion concerns the subject matter of education 
alone and not the general organization of schools, this is not 
the place to consider the desirability of having within the 
state a group of schools which take the places of pubhc edu- 
cation without being directly under governmental control. 

In conclusion it may be said that as religion has been and 
still is one of the greatest social forces, it is highly 
an important desirable that some way be devised for the work of 
social force; giving every child adequate training in this most 
school important field. Although sectarianism makes it 

cannot make impossible for religious instruction to have a place 
under pres- ^^ ^he public school, it is necessary to leave the so- 
ent social lution of the problem in the hands of the sects. 
Present conditions do not point at all to the solu- 



The Parts 353 

tion of the problem by the family, which is ideally the one 
institution best adapted to the work of developing real 
reUgious feelings and attitudes in children. The churches, 
modified by the modern ideals of rehgious toleration, must pro- 
vide the solution. 

The Literary Element 

The whole tradition of the school is literary; the needs 
of Hfe are very immediately practical. It was the develop- 
ment of Uterature (religious in its nature) which 
made the school a necessary addition to the insti- the nefds of 
tutions which had hitherto existed. When we ^^ afe 
follow the historic lines which lead from the past the*tradi'tion 
to the modern school, we discover that the Greeks of the school 
developed a rich literature and a group of schools, *^ ^'"^ 
which, especially after the Roman conquest, were dominated 
by that material. So great was the force of the Greek tra- 
dition of formal education that even the practical Romans 
were eventually conquered by it. They, however, were not 
able to fasten this tradition upon the barbarians who flooded 
the Empire. Another force accomplished a similar result. 
Christianity, which replaced the Empire as the controlling 
force among the peoples of western Europe, magnified the 
importance of literature, although it was of another kind. 
While the Seven Liberal Arts existed in name in the medieval 
schools, neither the Greek nor the Latin literature actually 
had a dominating influence ; that of the Church really 
furnished the most important material for the work of the 
schools. 

At the beginning of modern times, when the growing 
interest in the affairs of this world promised a revolution in 
the schools, the revival of the interest in the Greek and Latin 
classics served merely to add that material to the Christian 
literature which had previously provided the major part of the 
course of study. Although this classical material became 



354 The School as a Social Institution 

unbelievably formalized, it is a noteworthy fact that its 
introduction was due to a desire to afford the ambitious 
human being those means of culture and humanity which 
would best serve to cultivate learning and virtue. The 
broad ideal of a type of education comprising those nobler 
and loftier characteristics which belong to the free man, all 
summed up in the word humanitas, degenerated into a kind 
of educational practice in which the humanities came to 
mean merely the classical literatures and finally little more 
than the Greek and Latin languages. 

This is the tradition of education which has come down 
even to the present. Such a conception, however, is being 
continually subjected to the criticisms of those educators 
who are able to see beyond the mere form of subject matter 
into its fundamental purposes. 

Although the early literatures were religious and although 
the literary element as it first appeared in the vernacular in 
modern times was chiefly biblical, the school of to-day, as 
we have seen in the discussion of the religious element of the 
curriculum, has practically eliminated most of that material. 
As every critical student of education knows, the process of 
changing from the old religious curriculum to the secular has 
been marked by the introduction of much trivial reading 
matter into the schools. While it is difficult to draw a sharp 
line between that which is literary and that which is not, it 
will be well for us to keep in mind some such distinction as 
that made by Moriey, — that is, that books in which " moral 
truth and human passion are touched with a certain largeness, 
sanity, and attraction of form " may be considered literary. 

Our concern in this section is not at all with the various 
kinds of work which are necessary to the mastery of language 
as an effective means of communication, oral reading, spell- 
ing, writing, grammar, composition, but rather with that 
material which brings into the present much of the idealized 
experience of humanity. This is the material which is to 



The Parts 355 

help in humanizing and sociaUzing the children of the present 

by making it possible for them to enter in an ideal 

• , ,1 , • ,1 ~ The function 

way into the great experiences and dreams of ^f literature 
humanity. It is the material which is to be used is to make 
to supplement the socializing activities of the yiduai a 
present. As children enter actively into the situa- membe'- of 
tions and work of the present they are subjected 
to the most powerful of socializing influences ; through such 
activities they become, we may say, members of various social 
groups largely local in their character. It is the function of 
literature to assist in the process of making them members 
of the race. The very immediate relations with work and 
social processes are likely to lack the ideal element, the 
supplying of which is a large part of the function of literature. 
The difficulties in the way of using literature for the realiza- 
tion of such an ideal are of great practical importance. In 
the first place there is the very troublesome task of The realiza- 
avoiding the extremely human tendency to formal- *\°'^ .°* *.^^ 
ize almost any material which is used tor the pur- dered by 
pose of education. The unfortunate methods fonnaUsm 
which developed in the use of the ancient classical literatures 
are transferred and adapted to the treatment of the vernac- 
ular works which are studied. It seems very obvious that 
when a literary work is treated in a formal way with the em- 
phasis upon the structure of language there is little hope that 
the result will have any appreciable bearing upon the pur- 
pose which we here have in mind, however important may 
be the work of giving children an adequate training in the 
formal side of language. The criticism is not directed against 
the work of giving children a mastery of language forms nor 
even against the use of hterature for the purpose of provid- 
ing standards of taste and judgment in expression, but rather 
against the failure to use it for that purpose which is most 
fundamental, the cultivation of ideals, especially ideals of a 
social nature. 



356 The School as a Social Institution 

A further difficulty is found in the selection and organiza- 
tion of material. When the school broke away from the 
tradition of using religious hterature as the chief or 
seiectton of ^^l^ material, it turned to the moral and patriotic, 
inadequate The early readers which were pubhshed in this 
country show that the authors had in mind the 
purpose of providing such material as would develop char- 
acter and magnify the love of country. During the nine- 
teenth century the influence of various educational ideas 
led to the preparation of many different series of readers 
for use in the elementary school, the material being more 
or less adapted to the capacities of children and the supposed 
aim of education. Discussing these in an article in The 
Educational Review of July, 1891, President Eliot of Harvard 
said : " They are not made up of selections from recognized 
literature, and as a rule this class is simply ineffable trash. 
They are entirely unfit material to use in the training of our 
children. The object of reading with children is to convey 
to them the ideals of the human race ; our readers do not do 
that and are thoroughly unfitted to do it. I believe that 
we should substitute in all our schools real literature for 
readers." Since the time of this criticism there has been 
a great growth in the amount of real literary material avail- 
able for the use of children. Indeed the increase has been 
so great that the maker of a course of study is now con- 
fronted with the difficult task of selection, 
must be ^^ choosing the literary material to be used for 

selected the purpose of reahzing the social ideals of educa- 
basis of^ tion, we are confronted with the further problem of 
children's adaptation to the capacities and interests of the 
and^apaci- children who are to use it. This condition sug- 
ties as gests the dangers which lie in a study such as this, 

tte basrs^°o° which is an attempt to consider merely one point 
social ideals of view, the social. A complete philosophy of 
m e uca on g^j^gg^^^Qjj must deal with the whole complex group 



The Parts 357 

of factors which affect the choice of material incorporated 
in the course of study, while our present purpose is obviously- 
narrow. It is to be understood that whatever is here said in 
regard to the selection of material for the work in literature 
in the schools is subject to revision by the psychologist and 
the educational administrator. The more elementary the 
work, the more apparent is the necessity of giving a great 
amount of attention to the interests of the pupils with cor- 
respondingly less emphasis upon the remoter purposes of the 
process of education. 

The present is a time of wide experimentation in the use of 
classics of various kinds ; and as the psychological point of 
view is likely to cause undue emphasis upon mere adaptation 
to childish interests and capacities, it is perhaps well to insist 
that in the choice and organization of material the social 
considerations shall not be neglected. 

The Formal Phases of Language 

Although language is very evidently a social product, 
deriving its content and form from social needs and usage, 
it is rather difficult to treat its subject matter ^^jj^^ j^ 
from the social point of view. Once language has language 
been crystalhzed into certain standard forms, what- Jfjo*dy°"^3 
ever is taught concerning it in the schools is likely treatment 
to depend almost wholly upon the nature of the ^^g^^y 
subject matter itself. It is to be remembered emphasizes 
also that in this chapter we are not considering °*®'" *^®*^ 
methods of teaching, but merely content. A further diffi- 
culty in this connection is due to the fact that treatment 
of form as isolated from content is hkely to be practically 
meaningless. 

The importance of form lies not so much in its aesthetic 
possibilities as in its immediate relationship to the great 
social need of some means of easy and accurate communica- 
tion of ideas. The material selected for the work of giving 



358 The School as a Social Institution 

mastery of form should be chosen first of all, then, because 
_, of its bearing upon the problems of satisfying the 

need of needs of everyday life. The maker of a course 

commum- q£ study for the elementary school and very 
cation '' J J 

should be largely for the high school should not ransack the 
emphasized Tpy^Qj.]^s Qf q^j. great classical writers for formal 
material but should rather study the needs of children and 
the community in which they live, for the purpose of dis- 
covering what is most needed. 

In a subject like grammar, which was formalized by the 
Greeks, passed on to the Romans, and finally fixed upon the 

modern languages, there is continual danger that 
in grammar ,..,,. 

the traditional subject matter shall be the con- 
trolling influence; although the rebellion against formal 
grammar has been so successful that in the twentieth-century 
school the danger is not as great as it was a few decades ago. 

Spelling illustrates very well the same idea. When that 
subject was magnified in importance in the schools of the 
and in nineteenth century, the material selected was 

spelling chosen apparently according to the principle 
of securing a mastery of all the bizarre and difficult words 
in the dictionary. At the present time, the dominating idea 
is that of finding what words the pupils need and are most 
likely to need and then making such a list the basis of the 
work in spelling. Studies have been made to discover just 
what words are most largely in use in ordinary and business 
correspondence. It is obvious that there is no social value 
in having pupils learn to spell a great list of words which 
they will never need to use in written form. 

A further word may be added in regard to the problem 

of choosing the material to use in giving a proper knowledge 

of language forms, with special reference to the 
Shall ma- => £= ; t- 

teriaibe necessity of distinguishing between the formal 
selected for ^^^ ^j^g content subiects. From the social point 

form or for •" . 

content? of View we are but slightly interested m the psy- 



The Parts 359 

chological value of the discipline of the formal study of 
language. If that social end, the effective mastery of the 
forms of language necessary to satisfactory oral and writ- 
ten communication, be attained, it is of little concern to 
us whether that mastery be secured through a direct study 
of grammar, spelling, and reading or through incidental 
treatment in connection with the study of literature as 
content. That is largely a matter of method. 

Finally, we may emphasize the idea that whatever the 
content of the formal subjects — to use a very paradoxical 
expression — the social conditions of the present 
rather than the dead hand of tradition, should be social 
the determining force. To illustrate this prin- conditions, 
ciple, we may refer to the matter of spelling re- tradition, 
form. The whole question resolves itself into should 
the problem of making the use of written symbols 
the most economical and effective means of satisfying the 
social need of communication. If the force of custom is so 
great that a change will interfere disastrously in the effective- 
ness of spelling as a means of satisfying this need, then there 
is only one answer to the speUing-reformers. If, however, 
the advantages of simplicity, plainness, and economy of 
time and work overbalance the disadvantages of breaking 
old customs, the needs of the present and the future must 
lead to a disregard of tradition. 

History and Civics 

While history has been and indeed must necessarily be 
social in its nature, the materials offered for study have very 
generally reflected only limited views of that part 
of social life which is to be found in politics, tion of his- 
Within recent years, however, the conception of ^°^ ^f^ . 

-' ' . come to be 

the meaning and function of the subject has been broadly 
gradually changing. While there are still scholars ^"^ '"**^®' 
who agree with Freeman that " History is past political 



360 The School as a Social Institution 

politics," the tendency of the present seems to be toward 
the idea that the subject includes the records of all that 
human beings have been and have done, but that the 
type of material suitable for the school must be narrower. 
The new definition is social in a broad sense, rather than 
political. Furthermore, there is a tendency to regard 
history not merely as that which is past, but as that which is 
socially significant to the present, thus making the subject 
center in the most important activities and ideas of the 
present rather than in the bizarre, the entertaining, or even 
the stupendous events of days that have gone. 

Accompanying this changing conception of the meaning 
of history, \there has been a transformation of the ideas 
^, , ^ concerning its value and function. When educa- 

The function . ® , , 

of history is tion was distinctly aristocratic in its nature, 

*° d^** r d ^i^^^^y w^^ ^ P^^t of ^^® intellectual baggage 
ing the which every gentleman was supposed to carry, 
present j^g value was deemed principally cultural. With 

the growth of democratic ideals and practices in government 
and in education there has developed the conception that 
the chief value of the subject lies in its relationship to the 
affairs of the present. Professor James Harvey Robinson, 
in an essay on " The New History," thus expresses the idea : 
" Could we suddenly be endowed with a Godlike and ex- 
haustive knowledge of the whole history of mankind, far 
more complete than the combined knowledge of all the 
histories ever written, we should gain forthwith a Godlike 
appreciation of the world in which we live, and a Godlike 
insight into the evils which mankind now suffers, as well as 
into the most promising methods for alleviating them, not 
because the past would furnish precedents of conduct, hut 
because our conduct would he based upon a perfect comprehen- 
sion of existing conditions founded upon a perfect knowledge 
of the past." (The New History, page 20.) 

Such a view as the foregoing is in great contrast with an 



The Parts 361 

earlier conception which is still somewhat prevalent, — 
that the chief, if not the sole, value of history is Patriotism 
its power to develop a jingoistic form of patriotism. Js not the 
The weakness and danger of such a conception are history 
due not so much to mere narrowness as to the fact teaching 
that it tends to lead to distortions for the sake of magnifying 
the national idea rather than to cultivation of love of 
humanity and love of truth. Moreover, where the cultiva- 
tion of a narrow-minded patriotism is looked upon as the 
chief function of history, there is inevitable neglect of the 
broader socializing work of making a knowledge of the past 
a basis for understanding and interpreting the present. 

In a democracy there is very urgent need of having citizens 
equipped with an intelligent view of the most important 
problems of the present, including civics in a vital ^ 
sense. This understanding of the conditions and must lead 
needs of to-day can hardly be satisfactory with- *° * ™°'"® 

•^ •^ •' mtelhgent 

out some adequate knowledge of how the present view of the 
has come to be. The Great War has set milUons p'"'-s^°* 
to reading history that they may gain some deeper apprecia- 
tion of those past conditions and forces which have made 
the struggle inevitable ; but in a less spectacular way it is 
just as necessary for the intelligent citizen to study the past 
that he may have a clearer understanding of the various 
social conditions (including the political) that characterize 
the ordinary peaceful activities of his country. 

In the preceding chapter on the general aspects of the cur- 
riculum it was stated that one of the chief functions of the 
subject matter of education is to enlarge and en- 
rich experience. In a peculiar way, history ac- enlarge and 
complishes this work by giving a more intelligent enrich ex- 
view of the connections which exist in the various 
ideas, movements, and achievements of past and present. 
While it must be admitted that a knowledge of the problems 
of to-day as such is much more important than a mere 



362 The School as a Social Institution 

knowledge of how they happened to develop, it is quite 
true that an understanding of the real meaning of the present 
is aided materially by the process of " getting the connec- 
tions." 

That the actual social usefulness of history is not confined 
to the theorizing of historians and history teachers is shown 
Th a tual ^^ *^^ place which the subject has in the reading 
demand for world. Dr. Ernest Horn, in an article on " Prin- 
knowTed^e ciples for Making Curricula in History," says, 
is shown by " One book out of every ten published in 1913 
*f b°^^* was history. In 1913, one book in every seven 
which consulted in the reference department of the New 

offer sm^^ York City Library was history, — more than were 
readers consulted in geography and travel, science, and 
select technology combined. Eight per cent of the 

books drawn for home use were classed as history, as com- 
pared with three per cent in the case of technology, three 
per cent in the case of science, and three per cent in the case 
of geography and travel. It must also be kept in mind 
that a large part of the books classified under other headings 
contain a large amount of historical material. The per- 
centage of books in history drawn by children is still larger as 
compared with those drawn by them in science, useful arts, 
geography, and travel. No data have been found to indicate 
that the publishers' market, and the library demand, espe- 
cially in the case of adults, do not reasonably approximate 
the actual social demand for history. The large amount, 
relatively, of books consulted in the reference division of the 
public Hbrary, seems particularly significant." (Teachers 

College Record, Sept., 1915, page 34.) 
cation^of Following our general principles for the selec- 

the prin- tion of subject matter as discussed in the preced- 
sde^ctionof* ing chapter, we may say that history should 
subject supply an ideahzed environment, should broaden 

the content of experience, should provide proper 



The Parts 363 

stimulus to activity, should be an aid in character-building, 
should help develop social consciousness, and should make 
the process of social adjustment more effective. 

Applying these principles in a negative manner we are 
compelled to reject much of the material that has formed 
the bulk of the subject matter in times past, leg^s to the 
Summed up in brief form, this material may be elimination 
classified under two heads ; (1) mere enumeration types of ^ 
of names of persons, hsts of events, and general material 
chronological skeletons, except as a device to aiding the 
mastery of richer material ; (2) materials which have taken a 
large place in the writings of historians, which have kept this 
pirominent place through tradition and imitation, but which 
have no great value in " getting the connections " with the 
important civic and social problems of to-day. A large part 
of the material descriptive of picturesque characters belongs 
in the second class ; as also does much of the skeletonized 
political history which is still too common in textbooks. 

As the chief function of history is not merely to narrate 
what has been, but to give a better appreciation and under- 
standing of what is, by tracing out some of the his- 
torical connections, it is evident that the material newspapers 
selected should be concerned primarily with the and maga- 
significant ideas, practices, and problems of to- ggst topics 
day. If we may judge by the contents of news- for historical 
papers and magazines, such topics as the following 
are of great interest to society to-day and may, then, be con- 
sidered as strongly suggestive of the type of material which 
should be included in history textbooks : — 

Commerce and Transportation Trusts 

Manufacturing Government Control of Cor- 

Factory Legislation porations 

Child Labor Socialism 

Women in Industry The Tariff, Protection, Revenue, 

Labor and Capital Free Trade 



364 The School as a Social Institution 



Labor Unions 

Strikes and Lockouts 

Wages 

Household Arts 

Money, Banks, Savings Banks 

Nationalism and States' Rights 

Municipal Government 

Courts of Law and Legal Rights, 
Freedom of Speech 

Foreign Relations 

The Mexican Question 

Pan- Americanism 

Suffrage 

Growth of Population 

Immigration 

Education 

Science, Invention, and .Dis- 
covery 

Recreation and Amusements 

The Postal Service 



Panics and Business Depressions 

Mining 

Agriculture 

Newspapers, Magazines, and 
Books 

Prisons and the Treatment of 
Criminals 

Health, Sanitation 

Charities 

Conservation of Natural Re- 
sources 

Prohibition, The Liquor Ques- 
tion 

War, Militarism, National De- 
fense, Compulsory Service 

Army and Navy 

Territorial Expansion 

Our Insular Possessions 

Race Problems 

Religious Toleration 



Studies which have been made to discover the percentage 
of newspaper space devoted to various types of material 
offer some suggestion in regard to the relative emphasis 
which should be placed upon various topics;^ but in the 
making of a course of study more attention should be paid 
to the educational value of the material than to current 
interest as reflected by the newspaper. The fact that 
jokes, for example, occupy about one per cent of the space 
has no particular significance in the making of a course of 
study. 

In a general way much that has been said about the broad 
functions of history applies to civics. In fact, the political 
phases of history form an appropriate basis for interpretation 
and development. The list of topics suggested as a crude 

1 See "A Statistical Study of the Contents of Newspapers," Thos. R. 
Garth, in School and Society, III : 140 (Jan. 22, 1916). A similar study by 
Professor Tenney of Columbia University is to be found in The Independent 
of Oct. 17, 1912. 



The Parts 365 

background for the organization of history may be appUed 
to the problem of selecting material for civics. Such an 
application will mean more attention to the actual working 
of our government, to the place of the patriotic and con- 
scientious citizen, and to the idea of improvement in civic 
affairs than to a bare study of structure. As the real func- 
tion of literature may be obscured by too much attention to 
form, the usefulness of civics may be greatly decreased by 
too much attention to organization. 

Mathematics 

From very early times the subject matter of mathematics 
has been of two types : the first being made up of the the- 
oretical and philosophical considerations ; the 

There hflve 

second being the application to practical prob- j,een t^o 
lems of everyday life. The Greek philosophers types of 
were interested in the subject not because of its ematics: 
practical bearing upon the immediate problems of disciplinary 
life, but because of their beUef ^ in its power to ^ 
elevate the soul. This disciphnary conception, which 
dominated education at the time when the modern elemen- 
tary school was coming into being, fastened upon arithmetic 
a great deal of material which was of no very evident social 
value, — endless problems which were designed to cause 
toil and trouble rather than to show how the simple facts 
and principles of mathematics have a bearing upon the 
affairs of daily life. Ridding the course of study of this 
dead material has been one of the difficult tasks of recent 
years ; and the process of elimination is by no means com- 
plete. A social conception of education, however, is gradu- 
ally serving to emphasize the idea that the subject matter of 
arithmetic should center in the quantitative problems of 
everyday affairs. 

* See The Republic, Book VII, for Plato's views. 



366 The School as a Social Institution 

The social need of mathematics increases with the com- 
plexity of civilization. As the foundation of government 
lies in the taxing power, many of the problems 
terTof Sciai ^^^^ which every citizen is supposed to have more 
concern or less familiarity are largely mathematical. 
tative^"*that '^^^ tariff, pensions, the Panama Canal, national 
is, mathe- defense, civic improvements, pubUc health ad- 
treatment ministration, and the regulation of interstate com- 
merce, a list of activities selected at random, all 
show the need of quantitative thinking, that is, of the appli- 
cation of mathematics to the solution of the problems of 
government. When the tariff question, to cite a single 
example, is reduced to mathematics, it will cease to be a 
matter for political jugglery and will become a subject as 
free from partisan feeling as is the payment of interest on 
the national debt. 

As governmental activities show the need of quantitative 
thinking, so also do many of the private and semi-public. 
„. activities that affect society in a large way. In 

X lie s&me 

is true of this class may be placed business activities in 
™?"y d S^^^^^lj including such matters as insurance, 
semi-public borrowing and lending, marketing of crops, buying 
matters ^^^ selling, international trade, transportation, 
telegraphic, telephonic, and postal communication, manu- 
facturing, and indeed all the arts and industries. In all 
these activities a quantitative or mathematical view is of 
very great social importance. 

It is evident, then, that the chief need is not mere familiarity 
with arithmetic as an abstract science ; although it is true 
that there must be a foundation of elementary number facts 
before there can be a development of that quantitative 
attitude of mind which is the theme of the preceding para- 
graphs. There must be a proper combination or harmoniza- 
tion of the two ideas : first, that of giving mastery of the 
technique of number manipulation ; second, that of giving 



The Parts 367 

insight into the application of the fundamentals of arithmetic 
together with a large amount of skill in such processes. 

The course of study in arithmetic has been undergoing 
gradual modification, a process which still continues. Such 
topics as alligation, apothecaries' weight, true dis- 
count, and complicated reductions have been los- Social 

pressure has 
mg ground because of the insistent demand that caused a 

a high degree of social worth shall be shown not ™°'^^/f/ 
° ° . tion of the 

only by arithmetic as a subject but also by each subject 

topic in the course. To a certain extent such ^^^g^^ 

topics as the foregoing are being replaced by 

other material which is more clearly of value in its ap- 

pUcation to the activities of the present. Such topics 

as insurance, taxation and revenue, civic improvements, 

public health, are introduced for mathematical treatment 

instead of the outworn material which has come down 

from the days of the strictly disciplinary education. 

As in the case of spelling the selection of material ought 

to be based upon a careful study of the writing vocabulary 

which the social needs of the present indicate, so 

the materials used in arithmetic should be de- J^f ^- 

tenal se- 

rived from a similar study. In the matter of lected must 
mastery of the fundamental arithmetical pro- ^uJ^^^atiMi 
cesses, there is no room for doubt that society 
insists that the school shall attain the highest possible degree 
of efficiency. No amount of attention to the various ways 
of applying these fundamentals would be permitted to 
obscure this need of absolute mastery. On the other hand, 
however, the school will be derelict in its duty if it provides 
the pupil with an instrument the use of which is a mystery 
to him. 

While the foregoing discussion has had reference to 
arithmetic chiefly, the same fundamental ideas apply to 
school mathematics in general. The amount of time which 
can be given to algebra and geometry must be determined 



368 The School as a Social Institution 

by social demands laid upon the school. Algebra, which 
has been attacked quite fiercely in recent years, must justify 
itself upon grounds of actual comparative social value, or 
lose its place in the high school. If it cannot show greater 
real value than other subjects which are its rivals, it must 
follow the example of Greek and retire to respectable ob- 
scurity. 

Geography and Natural Science 

The function of geography has often been conceived in 
terms of enlarging the learner's knowledge of the surface of 
the earth; while that of natural science in gen- 
scientij^^ ^ ^ral has been stated in terms of mere f act-acquisi- 
treatment tion or classification. In both cases the larger 
sciences is social function is disregarded. A mere knowl- 
not edge of the facts of botany, zoology, physics, 

physiology, or surface geography, while more or 
less interesting, can hardly be said to be of richest social 
_, . significance. The most important function of 

function is the group of Sciences centered about geography 
social jijj ^Yie elementary school is to aid in the process of 

sociaHzing the children to whom they are presented. 

If such is to be considered the function of these subjects, 
it follows that the point of view from which the materials 
_. . , , are to be selected and used is the human rather 

The point of 

view must than the purely scientific. In geography, the 

be human earth is to be studied not merely as one of the 
planets exemplifying certain natural laws, but rather as the 
scene of the struggle for human progress. Its mountains, 
rivers, seas, continents, and islands are to be considered not as 
mere physiographic phenomena, but as the obstacles which 
Man has had to overcome and as the means to advance- 
ment. Likewise, the natural sciences in general are to be 
treated more in their human relationships than in their 
purely scientific and abstract bearings. The facts of plant 



The Parts 369 

life, for example, should be given meaning and worth through 
an understanding of their bearings upon human hfe and 
progress. 

The attainment of the social point of view in the selection 
and treatment of the materials of geography and the natural 
sciences has been a matter of very great difficulty. ..... 

in the first place, the modern schools have been the social 
infected with much of the medieval attitude 5?"^*°^ 

. view has 

toward science ; there has been a great deal of been very 
naive interest in the curious and extraordinary, ^^i^cult 
In the second place, a great deal of the Pestalozzian influence, 
which was important in securing for geography and the 
natural sciences a place in the curriculum of the elementary 
school, was along the line of selecting such material as would 
be useful in providing the means of that training of the 
senses and development of the powers which Pestalozzi made 
preeminent in his theory. The object lesson which he devised, 
and which was the embryo out of which developed much of 
the early science teaching in the elementary school, was 
designed to give training to the senses rather than to empha- 
size a social point of view in the treatment of the diverse 
materials from the natural world. It should be said, however, 
that the development of geography through the Pestalozzian 
influence brought out the idea of treating the whole of that 
subject from the point of view of the earth as the home of 
Man. 

Another obstacle in the development of the social point of 
view has been the widespread influence of the discipHnary 
conception of education. Where the purpose of science 
teaching is merely to develop the memory, to give training 
in discrimination, to expand the logical faculty, there has 
been little opportunity to place emphasis upon the social 
value of the subject matter. 

Even the influence of Froebel, much as he did to emphasize 
social ideas in education, tended to bring out the poetical 



370 The School as a Social Institution 

and the symbolical in science rather than the everyday facts 
that are of significance to human beings in a Hteral sense. 
His view is shown in the passage : "In the clear disclosures 
of God's spirit in Nature are seen the nature, dignity, and 
holiness of man reflected in all their pristine clearness and pu- 
rity." (Education of Man, Hailman's translation, page 159.) 
In spite of this, however, the social phase of his philosophy is 
coming to obscure the symbolical ; and the physical interpre- 
tation of Man and Nature is giving way to a human, that is, 
a social treatment of both, not altogether out of accord with 
his Doctrine of Unity when it is stripped of its symbolical 
implications. 

Notwithstanding, all the temptations to run off into by- 
paths there has been a steady progress in the direction of the 
idea that science in general, geography in particular, should 
make much of the fact that it is humanity that gives sig- 
nificance to the facts of any science ; and that consequently 
the selection and organization of material ought to have 
continual reference to this guiding idea. 

The peculiar effect of the application of the social type of 

interpretation is well illustrated in the development of the 

material used in teaching geography. The very 

pretation term "geography," "description of the earth," 

has modified sgej;ns to offer a temptation to cling very closely 
geography . o ./ ./ 

teaching to the physical or surface features ; but with the 
greatly development of the idea that the treatment of 

geographical material should emphasize the view that this 
study concerns the earth as the home of Man there has been 
a revolution in the arrangement and treatment of materials. 
It is still true that there is a certain type of mind that is 
satisfied when it has found the location of a place on the map ; 
and much of the teaching of geography is still apparently 
based upon the assumption that when location has been 
mastered there is nothing more to be done. Nevertheless 
the influence of such men as Guyot, Colonel Parker, Frye, 



The Parts 371 

Redway, and McMurry has done much to emphasize the 
belief that the really important part of geography Hes 
beyond a mere study of the surface of the earth, . 
that the human relationships are the ones of mentary 
greatest significance. " Industries, commerce, ^^^°°^ 
agriculture, and modes of hving are becoming the centers 
about which geographic thought and experience are gathered." 
(Bobbitt, What the Schools Teach and Might Teach, page 66.) 

Not the elementary school alone has been influenced by 
this modern idea of geography. In the high school, physi- 
ography seems to be giving way to commercial and ^nd in high 
industrial geography. The value of the former school 
has been called into question largely because it is generally 
made up of a mass of material which is abstract in the sense 
that it is relatively remote from interpreting human activ- 
ities. There is a growing conviction that it is less important 
to understand the world from the abstract scientific point 
of view than to understand the relation of its various forces 
and conditions to human life. This seems to be the reason 
for giving less attention to the merely physiographical 
study of the earth and more to the commercial, economic, 
and industrial phases of geography. 

It may seem that such a study of geography is but a form 
of current history in a broad sense ; and such a view is not 
far from the truth. Furthermore, such a treat- 
ment gives a singularly adequate background uke history, 
for the interpretation of history in general. Cur- affords a 
rent emphasis of the geographical factor in history interpreting 
in turn suggests the necessity of destroying that huma» 
isolation which exists when geography is regarded 
as a mere study of location, physiography, astronomy, or 
mathematics. Human progress cannot be thoroughly com- 
prehended apart from those physical foundations upon which 
it is built ; nor can ideas of the earth have full significance 
apart from human relationships. 



372 The School as a Social Institution 

Our consideration of the social, or human, point of view 
in the field of geography and natural science shows that it 
The social tends toward an effective selection and arrange- 
point of ment of material that has real value. In a nega- 
Tmo^ef^^ tive way it may be said that an accompanying 
fective result is the elimination of topics and facts that 

and or°° are bizarre, dead, or of slight value. Or perhaps it 
ganization would be better to say that such matters are put in 
raplTy and ^ properly subordinate place ; for in fields as rich 
natural and diverse as geography and natural science, 

science ^^ ^^ hardly possible to bring absolutely all 

facts into an organization which has a single funda- 
mental idea, even though that idea be exceedingly broad. 
However, it must be evident that those facts which are 
interesting principally on account of their strangeness must 
cease to have a large place, while those that have value as 
affording a basis for understanding the world in which we 
live will have an emphasis commensurate with their actual 
value. With the social type of interpretation, then, it is 
possible to develop a form of organization which promises 
the greatest amount of usefulness to the materials of geog- 
raphy and natural science. 

Vocational Subjects 

While in a certain sense almost all education is vocational, 
in that whatever increases breadth of outlook has some 
tendency to affect the narrower operations which 
ing of voca- make up the work of a vocation, there are certain 
tionai edu- types of instruction which have for their imme- 
diate purpose the giving of such knowledge and 
skill as will have a direct bearing upon the problem of making 
a living. The term " vocation " includes medicine, law, the- 
ology, engineering, and public service as well as such activ- 
ities as printing, carpentry, shoemaking, farming, and 
household work. In the sense that it was preparing boys to 



The Parts 373 

make the special preparation necessary for the clergyman, 
the lawyer, or the physician, even the Latin Grammar School 
of former times was vocational ; but in the sense that its 
work was designed to give a widened outlook upon life 
without reference to any particular kind of private or social 
activity it was cultural. Unfortunately the idea of culture 
came to mean such education as had so general a relationship 
to all human life that it had little vital connection with any 
of the activities with which mankind was directly con- 
cerned. In contrast with this, the vocational idea is that of 
making all or most of education maintain quite an intimate 
relation with those professions and industries which now 
make up the world's work, thus subordinating culture as 
such to the more pressing problems of life. 

In dealing with the materials of vocational education it is 
necessary to add to the distinction between the cultural and 
the vocational a further distinction between the 
latter and the industrial. As stated in the pre- the terms 
ceding paragraph, the terni "vocational " includes ".^o^*-, ,,. 
both the professional and the industrial, the term dusfriai ""^ 
' ' profession ' ' including such activities as medicine, and ' '^ cui- 
law, and theology, with engineering and teaching as 
candidates for places with the ancient trinity of professions. In 
contrast with these occupations which demand a high degree 
of intellectual training are others which demand principally 
manual skill and physical strength, or which are concerned 
with the production, transportation, and exchange of the 
material goods of life. But as there is no sharp line be- 
tween the cultural and the vocational, except as it is drawn on 
account of artificial distinctions, there is no clearly distinguish- 
able boundary between the industrial and the professional. 
To be sure, if we follow the traditional idea that a profession 
is some form of vocational activity which does not require 
soihng the hands and that industrial work means dirty 
hands and clothes, we have a very tangible distinction, — 



374 The School as a Social Institution 

one too which seems very real to those parents whose great 
desire for their sons is that they may wear white collars. 
That no such tangible difference exists, however, is clear when 
we consider the gradual stages through which there is a transi- 
tion from those occupations which demand physical strength 
and httle intellect to those which demand only mental abihty 
and training. However, for the sake of convenience and 
clearness we may distinguish industrial occupations by de- 
scribing them as carried on by manual workers in the trades 
and their related activities. 

With the breakdown of the apprenticeship system of 
training for vocations there has developed a serious social 
Th d d P^obl^^j ^ large pa,rt of the solution of which is 
for certain being referred to the school. Under the old 
types of system each trade trained its own workers and 

vocational "^ 

education generally determined their number. At the 

"^ *^®, . present time the conflict between labor and cap- 

scnool IS a ^ ... 

resixit of the ital results in a condition in which employers often 

breakdown gggj^. ^^ |^g freed from the burden of training those 

of the ap- ° 

prenticeship who are to work for them, while the workers look 
system ^-^j^ suspicion upon efforts to provide an in- 

creased number of trained workers in their respective 
trades and industries. The former wish the benefits of 
having a large number of capable workers for their busi- 
ness ; the latter fear that their wages will be decreased if the 
number of workers is greatly increased. Consequently 
there is no easily devised method of preventing thousands 
of boys and girls from entering upon life with the most 
inadequate training for work which shall be profitable to 
themselves and to society in general. The problem is further 
complicated by the fact that the State cannot afford to have 
its citizens trained merely as workers in some trade, industry, 
or even profession. Still another complication in the problem 
is the set of conditions which tend to magnify the desirability 
of the learned professions and which consequently work 



The Parts 375 

to bring about an overcrowding in law and medicine if not in 
theology. If it be true that the nature of the subject matter 
offered by the school has had a great deal to do with the 
creation of this condition, it is likewise true that a proper 
modification of the curriculum will have a tendency to correct 
the abuses which have grown up. If the subjects taught in 
the school are of such a nature that the longer a boy goes 
to school the farther away he is from all vocations except 
the professions, then the school is creating a condition which 
it ought to set about remedying. The problem is to offer 
a proper amount of general training while giving enough 
famiUarity with various vocations or phases of life to make 
school life plainly valuable to those who are in danger of 
dropping out, as well as to those who are certain to remain 
in attendance throughout the course. It is evident that the 
nature of the problem is such that it is hardly necessary to 
place increased emphasis upon those vocations which are 
called professions. For this reason it will be best in the 
succeeding discussion to turn our attention to the industrial, 
the commercial, the agricultural, the domestic. 

Eafly attempts to deal with the problem of providing 
vocational education for children who were to engage in the 
industries and trades went directly and imme- 
diately to the matter at hand, that of giving skill ^"J'e^fieid^ 
in some kind of industry, — a condition which may were 
be partly accounted for by the fact that the train- ^''^^^y 

'^, . practical ; 

ing was intended for poor children who could not 

be expected to receive general cultural education. Colonial 
legislation in America (Virginia, for example) expressly pro- 
vided for the training of poor children in " public flax houses 
under such master and mistresses as shall be appointed in 
carding, knitting, and spinning." (Law of 1646.) 

In his transition from general social reformer and model 
agriculturalist to educator Pestalozzi tried the work of teach- 
ing children farming, spinning, and weaving in connection 



376 The School as a Social Institution 

with a certain amount of intellectual and religious training, 
Fellenberg, developing Pestalozzi's ideas, had a vision of 
industrial training for rich and poor, — the former that they 
might appreciate the work of the poor and be capable of 
directing it for the public good, the latter that they might be 
efficient workers. 

A strange thing happened to these ideas of industrial 

training as they were taken up by other men and other times. 

What had begun as a frank attempt to give 

but a change chji^jj-en a kind of industrial training that would 

of view re- ... 

suited in enable them to make a living gradually lost its 
manual direct practical character and took on a peda- 

training . ^ ^ . 

gbgical aspect. Intellectual, moral, and aesthetic 
training became the ends which were sought. With the 
industrial character lost to view, the result was manual 
training. 

Manual training, while avoiding any direct attempt to 
give vocational skill, is designed to provide such general 
training as will give a certain amount of manual dexterity 
and familiarity with tools. The subject also offers a view of 
life and a connection with those activities which demand 
the use of the hands, quite different from the outlook and 
relationship of the purely intellectual subjects. 

At the present time there are many attempts to make the 

work of the schools much more truly vocational than it 

has been in the past. This is true not only of the 

There are increasing number of institutions which are 

now definite 

attempts to devoted entirely to supplying the need caused 

™h^^/^^ by the general disappearance of the apprenticeship 

vocational system but also of the high school and even of 

in a broad ^j^g elementary school. As an example of what 

sense 

is being attempted we may refer to a system of 
schools now attracting a great amount of attention, that 
of Gary, Indiana, under the superintendency of William 
Wirt. 



The Parts 377 

From the child's first entrance into the system he is con- 
tinually directed to those activities which are 
concerned with making a living or with better pf^^^*^ 
hving. Even in the first three grades an hour 
a day is spent in manual training and drawing with simple 
handwork in an especially equipped room with a trained 
teacher. Thus the pupils learn to draw, to do painting 
and clay modeling, to sew, and to do simple work in car- 
pentry. The other grades spend twice as much time in 
manual training and drawing. Repairing and maintaining 
the bunding, the distributing of school supplies, the keeping 
of school records, and the care of the school grounds are 
all the work of the pupils under the direction of proper 
teachers and officers. 

Before the sixth grade the pupils are watchers and helpers 
in the work that is being done ; but with that grade they 
begin to be actual workers. Under the guidance of the 
teacher the pupil chooses some kind of shopwork which he 
wishes to pursue, three different kinds of courses being taken 
in one year. The pupil thus gains a superficial knowledge 
of the theory and processes of various kinds of work, not 
with the idea of becoming a skilled worker in any but merely 
to discover how the work of the world is done and to find 
vocational aptitudes. 

In the seventh and eighth grades the pupils are responsible 
workers in the shops. They may now speciaUze in some 
single department. If a boy " wishes to become a printer 
he can work on the school presses for an entire year, or he can 
put in all his shop time in the bookkeeping department if he 
is attracted by office work. The girls begin to take charge 
of the lunch room, doing all the marketing and planning for 
the menus and keeping the books. Sewing takes in more 
and more of the complications of the industry. The girls 
learn pattern drawing and designing, and may take a milli- 
nery course. The work for the students in office work is now 



378 The School as a Social Institution 

extended to include stenography and typewriting and busi- 
ness methods. The art work also broadens to take in design- 
ing and hand metal work. There is no break between the 
work of the grades and the high school in the vocational 
department, except that as the pupil grows older he naturally 
tends to specialize toward what is to be his hfe work." 
(Dewey, School of To-morroio, page 262.) 

It is not alone in the city that attempts are being made 
to relate education to the vocations of the community and 
Rural ^^ introduce into the curriculum real vocational ma- 

schools terial. Rural schools are beginning to make seri- 

Lfluence of °^^ efforts to work into the course of study such 
the voca- phases of agriculture as can be made a profitable 
tion 1 ea p^^^ ^^ ^j^^ work of children in the elementary 
grades, or in the high school where it exists. In these 
attempts the country has a distinct advantage over the city 
in the fact that while the latter has dozens of vocations which 
make demands for representation in the curriculum, the 
former has the one predominant interest, agriculture. The 
materials of this vocation can be woven into the curriculum 
in various forms from the first day of school to the last. 
All the concrete materials are easily available to make the 
work rich in number of clearly seen relationships with the 
actual affairs of life. Opportunity for a great deal of experi- 
mental work and application of theory is always at hand. 
And yet with all this the rural school has not been very alert 
to take advantage of the opportunities offered. However, 
as the city ceases to have a dominating influence over the 
country school — an influence which is still too great — 
there will be a greater use of the vocational material which 
the country affords. The rural school will then properly 
supplement the vocational training which children receive 
at home in the daily affairs of farm life. 

Among the various other vocational subjects which should 
be included in a complete list are the household arts. Xen- 



The Parts 379 

ophon long ago pointed out in a charming Socratic dialogue 

on (Economics that the management of household affairs is 

just as important a business or trade as are any 

of those occupations which result in increasing ?^,t^°I'^®' 

the supply of wealth brought into the home, hav-e a 

This idea, nearly always in the past considered ^^^^^ 

. . . social value 

as having nothing to do with the school, is now 
being applied even in the elementary grades. The social value 
of the domestic arts, effectively taught in the school, can 
hardly be overestimated ; for health, wealth, and general 
material comfort and happiness are involved. While the 
increasing number of ready-made products is doing much to 
make certain kinds of skill unnecessary in the home, the need 
for accurate knowledge of foods and textiles is in no wise 
diminished. Indeed, it may be safely asserted that in these 
days of adulterated products there is need of more knowledge 
than ever before. Even the ready-made product has not yet 
rendered skill in the preparation of foods and garments 
entirely unnecessary, even in the city ; and a great deal of 
economic waste will be prevented by the growing amount of 
knowledge and skill provided in the household arts training 
which the schools are now beginning to offer. 

This discussion of the vocational subjects may be brought 
to a close by a brief consideration of what should be at- 
tempted. Those communities in which there is a „,^ , 
,. . . . • 1 • 1 , What 

great diversity of occupations or in which the should be 

types of industry at present most important do attempted 
not offer an adequate outlet for the oncoming supply of 
labor have the very difficult problem of selecting types 
of vocational training which will be of greatest value to 
the State as a whole and to the individual children or the 
community. Shall the school system of a city attempt to 
provide proper vocational training for all its children? Or 
shall it select a few of the most promising occupations and let 
the others go ? It seems obvious that at present the matter 



380 The School as a Social Institution 

of expense makes it impossible to provide training in every 
occupation that may seem desirable. Hence, such occupa- 
tions are generally selected as will be satisfactory to the 
larger number. Such a course, however, works the serious 
evil of tending to produce an oversupply of labor of a certain 
kind while neglecting many fields of great importance to 
society as well as to the individual worker. It may be 
expected that in the next half century the most important 
fields of commerce and industry will all be covered. Local 
needs, however, will apparently have the dominating influence 
in the selection of the vocational materials to be offered. 

^ Summary 

While every subject in the course of study is the product 
of social forces, it does not follow that the materials as organ- 
ized have a great amount of social value at present. It is 
necessary in every case to enrich the abstract material which 
has been built up out of human experience with the concrete 
materials offered by the interests and activities of the present. 
The abstractions of arithmetic, of natural science, of history 
and civics, and even of the vocational subjects are robbed of 
much of their value if they are not given meaning by the 
addition of those materials of present life to which they are 
to be applied and for which they have come to have value. 
Therefore the content of the various parts of the course of 
study as well the whole must in general be determined not 
by the logical nature of the subject matter but by the social 
conditions in which the learners are later to use it, psycholog- 
ical considerations of course being given due weight. It is 
not to be expected, then, that the course of study will attain 
a condition of static perfection which will render need for 
further adaptation unnecessary; for the different subjects 
will have to keep changing as society itself progresses. 



The Parts 381 



BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Betts, G. H., Social Principles of Education. Chapter VI, Educa- 
tion and Vocational Modes of Experience. 
BoBBiTT, Frank, What the Schools Teach and Might Teach. 
Bourne, H. E., The Teaching of History and Civics in the Elementary 

and Secondary School. 
Briggs, T. H., and Coffman, L. D., Reading in the Public Schools. 
Brown, S. W., The Secularization of American Education. 
Bunker, F. F., Reorganization of the Public School System. U. S. 

Bureau of Education Bulletin, 1916, No. 8, Chapters VII and 

VIII. 
Butler, N. M., The Meaning of Education. Chapter X, Religious 

Instruction and its Relation to Education. 
Crist, Raymond F., An Outline Course in Citizenship to be Used in 

Public Schools. U. S. Bureau of Naturalization. 
Cubberley, E. p.. Rural Life and Education. Chapter XI, A New 

Curriculum. 
Dewey, John, Democracy and Education. Chapter XVI, The 

Significance of Geography and History ; Chapter XVII, 

Science in the Course of Study ; Chapter XXI, Physical and 

Social Studies ; and Chapter XXIII, Vocational Aspects of 

Education. 
Dodge, R. E., and Kirchwey, C. B., Teaching Geography in the 

Elementary Schools. 
Dunn, A. W., Civic Education in Elementary Schools as Illustrated in 

Indianapolis. U. S. Bureau of Education Bulletin, 1915, No. 17. 
Horn, Ernest, Principles for Making Curricula in History. 

Teachers College Record, Sept., 1915, pages 33-39. 
King, Irving, Social Aspects of Education. Chapter IX, Industrial 

and Vocational Education. 
Leavitt, Frank M. and Brown, Edith, Prevocational Education in 

the Public Schools. 
McMuRRY, Frank, Principles for Curricula in Geography. 

Teachers College Record, Sept., 1915, pages 11-14. 
McMurry, Frank, Elementary School Standards. 
McMuRRY, Frank, Report on the Course of Study. New^York City 

School Inquiry, 1911-12. 
Monroe, Paul, Editor, Principles of Secondary Education. 

Chapters IX-XVIII. 
Robison, C. H., and Jenks, F. B., Agricultural Instruction in High 

Schools. U. S. Bureau of Education Bulletin, 1913, No. 6. 



382 The School as a Social Institution 

Russell, J. E., and Bonser, F. G., Industrial Education. A reprint 
of two articles : The School and Industrial Life ; Fundamental 
Values in Industrial Education. Teachers College Bureau of 
Publications. 

Scott, C. A., Social Education. Chapter VIII, Science and Arith- 
metic ; Chapter IX, Reading, Language and Literature ; 
Chapter X, Manual Arts ; Chapter XI, Fine Arts. 

Smith, W. R., Introduction to Educational Sociology. Chapter 
XVIII, Cultural Aspects of Socialized Education; Chapter 
XVI, Vocational Aspects of a Socialized Education. 

Snedden, David, The Problems of Vocational Education. 

Speyer School Curriculum. Published by Teachers College, Co- 
lumbia University. 

University of Chicago Course on Community Life, History, and 
Civics in the University Elementary School. The Elementary 
School Journal, March and April, 1917. 

Vocational Secondary Education. U. S. Bureau of Education 
Bulletin, 1916, No. 21. Prepared by the Committee on 
Vocational Education of the National Education Association. 



CHAPTER XIV 

METHOD 



Since school life must be real life to the child rather than a remote 
preparation for adult life, the methods used must partake of the 
nature of the methods of real life in a school society that is not too 
distantly removed in organization and activity from the society 
in which the pupil must live and move and have his being in later 
years. To bring about a readjustment of school methods which will 
make them dovetail more perfectly into social forms of action and 
influence outside the schoolroom is the function of the socializa- 
tion of method. — W. R. Smith, Introduction to Educational Sociol- 
ogy, page 362. 



The Nature of Method 

As the significance of the course of study lies in the' 
activities used in the school for the purpose of attaining the 
ends of education rather than in a mass of dead ., ^, , . 

Method IS 

material stored up m books, method is to be based upon 

considered as the manner in which such activities t^e natiu-e 

of the edu- 

are to be secured and utilized. The problem of cationai 
the curriculum is what to do, not merely what to ^^^^cter f 
teach ; that of method is how to do, not alone the pupil, 
how to teach. The significance of method, <then, ^^J^® ^ 
is seen less in its relation to the course of study — subject 
from which indeed it is inseparable — than in its ^^^^^^ 
relation to the pupil as a member of society who is de- 
veloping through activities which are social in their value. 
This conception imphes, then, that method is based primarily 
not upon the nature of the subject matter of education but 

383 



384 The School as a Social Institution 

upon the aim of education in its relation to the nature of 
the immature child in whom the aim is to be reahzed. 
When the curriculum is selected upon the basis of its social 
value, when the pupil is considered as a member of society 
rather than as an isolated individual, when the educational 
ideal is defined in terms of social values, then method is 
discovered to be inseparable from each member of this trio 
of social factors, — ideal, pupil, and subject matter. Method 
thus becomes significant as the manner in which the in- 
dividual acquires experiences which have social value. 

In the development of method in modern times, especially 

in the nineteenth century, there have been two somewhat 

conflicting conceptions. In the first place there 

In the pro- Yisls been the idea which has come down from 

cess of edu- . . i i • i 

cationai antiquity that the logical organization of subject 
develop- matter is the true basis of method ; in the second 

ment . 

place, the conception that this foundation must be 
found in psychology rather than in logic. 

The tradition of logically perfect systems of knowledge 
as seen in the desiccated Seven Liberal Arts of the Middle 

Ages did not disappear with the introduction of 
mattCTwas ^^^ classical languages and literatures at the 
long the beginning of modern times. The method of 
in deter- teaching the classics was as thoroughly grounded 
mining in the logic of the subject matter as was that of 

teaching grammar, rhetoric, logic, et cetera. Even 
in the introduction of natural science into the course of 
study in the nineteenth century, the logical conception of 
method remained unchanged, a fact which may be clearly 
seen in the great attention given to classification. Physi- 
ology, to illustrate, instead of emphasizing facts of imme- 
diate individual and social value, laid most stress upon the 
classification of bones, blood vessels, muscles, and nerves. 
The criticism of this method is made not because of the fact 
that it is logical, but rather because of the tendency that it 



Method 385 

has had to obscure important psychological and social aims 

in education. Logic as an instrument is of very great value ; 

as an end in itself it obscures the very purpose for which it 

exists — the adequate handling of intellectual materials 

which the race has accumulated. 

The revolt against the purely logical method as seen in 

what is called the psychological tendency of the nineteenth 

century laid great stress upon the fact that the 

logical order is not always the psychological. ^^^ *^® . 

Against this conception there is no criticism to be cai tendency 

made except in the matter of a general blindness ^*® ^^^^ 

^ ° . great stress 

to the fact that the elements of psychology lie upon the 

quite as much in social relationships as in the ^^^^^l 

nature of the mind as such. The work of the basis of 

Pestalozzi in the development of method was method — 

^ a fact shown 

devoted to the problem of securing mental in the 
growth through the acquisition of clear ideas, p°^^j°* . 
his purpose as generally understood being " to 
psychologize education." To this end he developed the 
object lesson, which in his own hands and those of most 
of his followers had no particular connection with social 
relationships or values. The highly logical natural science 
previously mentioned was in part but the development or 
degeneration of the object lesson. 

In the work of Herbart the problem of method was solved 
with direct reference to the work of developing character, 
an aim which had very immediate social bearings ; 
but the method itself, as seen in the Five Formal 
Steps, was concerned with the work of developing general 
ideas or principles and their application. Understanding, 
associating, comparing, generalizing, and applying tend to 
emphasize the purely psychological problems of education ; 
although they do not necessarily neglect social considerations. 
However, the general trend of Herbartianism was toward a 
psychological rather than a social treatment of education, 



386 The School as a Social Institution 

even though his doctrine of interest made possible a vital 
connection with the problems of the school in their social 
bearings. 

In the theory of Froebel and his followers the social con- 
ception of Hfe and education begins to become one of the 

foundations of method. While in this philosophy 
and Froebel 11 1 , p it • ^ p ii- 

much has been made 01 the idea 01 symbohsm, 

that rather mystical attitude toward the universe has not 

obscured the doctrine of social participation as one of the 

most important means of social development. We find 

then this paradox: the materials emphasized by Herbart 

were social, while his method stressed the psychological 

and the logical; the Froebelian content of nature study 

with the idea of symbolism predominant accompanied ideas 

of method which were largely social. So far then as social 

ideas in content and in method are concerned, we owe much 

to Herbart in the former and much to Froebel in the latter. 

At the present time the large amount of attention given 

to the Montessori system tends to attach great importance to 

, . . the necessity of social participation as one of 

participation the foundations of method ; although it is true 

IS now ^YisX the use of the so-called didactic apparatus 

receiving ... . . . . 

considerable has no immediate bearing upon social activities 
emphasis ^-^^ ^^^^^ the failure to make use of play leaves 
untouched one of the great forces in the social Hfe of children. 
The development of method within modern times shows 
the possibiUty of utilizing three distinct, although not in- 
harmonious ideas, — the logical, the psychologi- 
shouid c^l? ^iid the social. The first of these emphasizes 

harmonize content of education, the second the learner, and 

the tllT66 

ideas and ^^^ third the social world of which the child is 
use all of and is to be a part. Each is valuable in its proper 
place and each can contribute to the effective- 
ness of the others ; but any method which is altogether one- 
sided is certain to fail to reaUze the great aim of education as 



Method 387 

at present conceived. Method must give due attention to 
the nature of subject matter and to the logical arrangement 
of materials ; it must also be based upon the nature of the 
mind of the learner and the laws by which mind and character 
develop ; and finally it must by suitable emphasis upon the 
social idea save both subject matter and learner from that 
isolation from the world of humanity which makes education 
meaningless. 

Defined from the social point of view, method is a process of 
utilizing the subject matter of education (including social 
activities) and the developing human material in such a way 
as to help realize those ideals which society sets before itself. 

Factors Determining Method 

In the preceding paragraph it has been shown that there 
are various matters to be taken into account in the formula- 
tion of method, each of which tends toward distortion if 
permitted to become the sole basis. We shall here give 
brief consideration to these factors, not in their general 
educational bearing but rather in their relation to method in 
a broad sense. 

Subject Matter as a Factor in Determining Method. 

While there may be certain principles which are so general 

that they apply to the entire teaching process, 

the difference between various kinds of subject ^ach^pe 

•" of subject 

matter is so great that there must be corre- matter has 
spondingly great differences in methods of ^^^*"*^^^ 
treatment. No one would think, for example, necessarily 
of teaching literature and mathematics in exactly ™g^^ 
the same way. In general the subject matter 
which has usually found place in the schools has been of 
such a nature that it not only did not suggest a social method 
but even made it difficult or impossible to use such a method 
where it was desired. Here indeed is one of the great diffi- 
culties of the present ; so large a part of the curriculum is 



388 The School as a Social Institution 

devoid of the possibility of natural social treatment that the 
teacher who wishes to socialize his work is practically forced 
to devise artificial means. 

In reading, to take a very obvious example, the nature and 
amount of subject matter are generally such that there is 
rarely present that social situation in which one person 
actually has a reason for reading aloud to another. Conse- 
quently the teacher has to make the process artificial. The 
pupils read aloud ; but there is no apparent contribution 
of ideas from reader to hearer. All the members of the 
class are already familiar with the content. What seems to 
be a social process in which one pupil is reading aloud for 
the contribution which he can make to the others is really 
no more than a schoolroom reproduction of the situation 
which would exist if twenty carpenters sat and watched a 
single workman attack some famihar piece of work. With 
the amount of reading material that is available in the 
ordinary school no other situation is easily possible. 

If the method of education is to become more social than 
it is now, there must be a change in the type of subject 
matter which is generally offered. Material 
the'm&^od which demands merely that the pupil sit still 
of education and study, then stand up and recite is not likely 
™Miges in to promote the social phases of the educative 
subject process. To sit still and concentrate upon the 

mastery of a lesson is indeed valuable and should 
be an art acquired by every pupil who passes through our 
schools ; but where the subject matter demands nothing 
more than that, the school is hopelessly out of touch with the 
real world of people and affairs of which the pupils ought in 
some way to be a part. 

As the nature of the subject matter hitherto used has been 
an important force in leading to the development of a 
method chiefly logical or psychological, it seems evident 
that any attempt to revise educational method must be 



Method 389 

accompanied by a corresponding change in content. It is 
futile to talk about socializing method without making 
enough changes in the materials to make it possible for the 
practice of social treatment to have a real place. 

The Psychological Factor. When the various educa- 
tional theorists of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries 
discovered the fact, always known to all good 

The soci&l 

teachers, that the method and content of educa- phases of 
tion should be planned with due attention to psychology 
the nature of the learner, the whole basis of considered 
method began to shift to the psychological. As |n deveiop- 
the type of psychology which generally pre- 
dominated emphasized the individual rather than the social 
characteristics of the pupil, method naturally concerned it- 
self with such problems as those relating to attention, to the 
development of concepts, to training in judgment, to the 
formation of habit, to memorizing materials, to the use of 
the processes of induction and deduction. Such material 
must be regarded as fundamental in the development of 
method ; but it should not be permitted to obscure other 
psychological ideas which have their basis in the fact that 
man is not a mere individual but is a social creature. 

Instinctive in the human being are certain tendencies 
which are decidedly social in their general character. If 
it is characteristic of the nervous system to retain 
the effects of impressions, it is no less characteristic ^^^^ 
of the possessor of that nervous system to wish to offer aid to 

be with other creatures of his kind, to be uneasy ™®**^°^ ■ *°' 

' -^ example, 

when he is left altogether to himself. He is 
gregarious ; and in the process of education this fact deserves 
just as much consideration as does the fact that he has 
memory. Older methods in education seem to (i) gregari- 
have proceeded upon the assumption that each ousness, 
individual pupil was a world unto himself revolving in soli- 
tude through an infinite expanse of intellectual ether. 



390 The School as a Social Institution 

Modern systems of education, in most of the large cities at 
least, herd children in great masses as if there were no such 
thing as individuality. Overcrowded classes are not to be 
taken as evidence of the recognition of the idea of gregarious- 
ness ; mere economy is sufficient to account for the phenom- 
enon. And yet the school as it is organized in modern times 
does give great opportunity for the teacher to make use of 
the gregarious instinct in the development of method. 
Whether the fact is recognized or not, the mere pleasure of 
being in a group or working with one has much to do with the 
effectiveness of the activities which characterize the ordinary 
school. This, however, is a situation for which the teacher 
has no more need to plan than he has for providing air. 
The situation is inevitably present. All the teacher needs 
to do is to recognize the fact and make use of it. An in- 
teresting application of the power of the gregarious instinct 
is seen in the treatment of a certain type of " bad " child in 
the Montessori school. Sometimes a child who is unruly is 
segregated from the other pupils, given his little chair and 
table, and left to realize what it means to have that peculiar 
kind of sickness which keeps him from association with 
other children. It is the desire to be with others, or the un- 
pleasantness of being isolated, rather than the disapproval 
of the teacher which works to effect a cure. The gregarious 
instinct is thus used as a positive force to master a situation 
which is obviously contrary to the social welfare of the little 
group. 

A second instinct which may be mentioned in this connec- 
tion is that of cooperation, the desire not merely to be with 
others but to participate in whatever activities 

(2) the CO- ,.,-•• 

operative are of general interest. It manifests itself quite 
instinct, early in childish attempts to be helpful in the 
activities of the home ; it is seen in the playing of games 
which demand group rather than individual activity. As a 
general rule, however, the school does not give much oppor- 



Method 391 

tunity for the operation of this instinct. Indeed, as the work 
of the school has almost universally been composed of exercises 
which each is supposed to master individually, cooperation 
has generally been considered a crime. The instinct is pres- 
ent, ready to be used whenever educational theory and prac- 
tice can devise the necessary type of content and method. 

It should not be thought that cooperation is a necessary 
part of the method used in every subject ; for there are 
many phases of school as well as of life in which the individual 
has to make his way alone, neither helping nor being helped. 
Such activities as gardening and the construction of various 
things lend themselves to cooperative activity ; while the 
mastery of the technique of writing, or pronunciation, or 
spelling must be chiefly if not solely a matter of individual 
effort. 

In contrast with the instinct of cooperation is that of 
emulation or rivalry. Its use in school has been much 
condemned, but it is nevertheless a force which (3) enuia- 
must receive due attention in the process of educa- tion, 
tion. In a low form its very force makes it dangerous ; but 
when it is civilized and refined by ideals of the rights of 
others it may become a very valuable aid in the ^nd (4) 
work of the school, especially in those forms of pugnacity 
work which are likely to degenerate into drudgery. Pugnac- 
ity, which is related to emulation, may likewise be refined 
and directed to the accomplishment of purposes of the high- 
est worth. 

Neither competition nor fighting is necessarily base ; 
although a soft kind of educational theory would seem to 
regard them as such. There are noble forms of rivalry which 
it would be a great misfortune for the world to lose, such as 
the chivalrous emulation of the deeds of those great char- 
acters whom we admire. As the world is constituted there is 
still plenty of occasion for fighting against the many evils 
and abuses which exist. For the process of education to 



392 The School as a Social Institution 

fail to use the instinctive love of fighting and transform it 
into a force for righteousness would be a tragedy. A part 
of this process of transformation of the crude instincts should 
undoubtedly come as one phase of the development of method 
in the school. 

We may say, then, that the psychological foundations of 
method demand more than a consideration of the activities 
of the mind in the immediate processes of learning. Atten- 
tion should also be given to those instincts which are the 
foundation of character, especially to those that are social 
in their nature, or may be made social through careful 
training and modification. The cooperative instinct, rivalry, 
pugnacity, and gregariousness should be used as frankly as 
are imitation and play; although a great deal of care is 
necessary to prevent the development of undesirable char- 
acteristics. 

• The Educational Aim as a Factor. Not what is outlined 
by the educational philosopher as the aims and ideals of 
T , , education, but rather what is understood or 

In order to ' 

be effective felt by the classroom teacher will be of greatest 

the aim of force in determining the methods actually 
education ° , '' 

must be used. If the teacher believes that the aim 

deeply im- ^f ^^ work is to cram pupils' minds with such 
pressed . ^ ^ 

upon a mass of material as will enable them to pass 

teachers examinations or measure up to certain standard 
tests, it is inevitable that the method of teaching shall re- 
flect this conception. 

The development of education shows how true it is that 
the aim not only determines the materials to be used but 
also the methods of dealing with them. When the aim of 
education was conceived as discipline of the mind, the method 
reflected the idea. When modern city and state systems 
began to impress the teacher with the idea that the aim is to 
pass certain examinations, the method of teaching became 
a sure indication of the existence of that belief. 



Method 393 

From the foregoing it seems evident that if a social con- 
ception of the aim of education is to act as a factor in the 
determination of method, some means must be devised for 
giving that conception an actuaL existence in the minds of 
teachers. To talk and write of the social ideal while teachers 
are oppressed with the dead weight of materials and while the 
machinery of education places a premium upon verbatim 
reproduction of the formal matter of instruction is to fail 
to give that ideal its greatest possibility of usefulness. It 
must be taught until it is the common possession of all 
teachers and conditions must be arranged to enforce the ideal. 

The Nature of Society as a Factor. The school is often 
criticized because it has ways of going about its work which 
are different from those of the world in general. 
It cannot be denied that the school has had a ^as a tend- 
remarkable tendency to formalize and mechanize ency to be- 
every thing that it has attempted to handle. If it artificial 
teaches language it generally has some very world in 
formal method of presentation, whether the tongue 
be Greek, Latin, French, German, or English. If it attempts 
to teach good citizenship, the very same tendency toward 
fonnalization is likely to appear. But of late there has 
been some effort to discover why it would not be profitable 
for the school to look to other social institutions and activities 
for suggestions in regard to the best methods of handling 
various matters, especially such as are often dealt with 
successfully outside the school. Why should civics be taught 
altogether from a book ? Why should the modern languages 
follow the ancient method of teaching Latin with formal 
grammar as a basis instead of using the informal method 
that prevails in life outside the school? Can the school not 
take advantage of many of the methods now in use in business 
houses? Is it possible to incorporate some of the good of 
the old method of apprenticeship into the work of trade and 
industrial education? 



394 The School as a Social Institution 

Although the school has usually paid little attention to 

what has been going on outside, it has recently begun to 

. catch a glimpse of the idea that its work may be 

tendencies improved by a study of those methods in use 

have been beyond its sacred walls. In commercial education 

toward '^ 

making it a the method is generally an attempt to make the 

miniattire of -^ork to be done reproduce the conditions which 

the society . . ^ 

in which it exist in the actual world of business. A similar 
exists tendency is present in the field of industrial educa- 

tion. Even a subject as necessarily bookish as that of liter- 
ature has not been altogether unresponsive to the idea 
that the method of the school ought to bear some re- 
semblance to that in general use in the world of readers. 
As the curriculum is coming to be judged by the standard 
of actual or probable use in the ordinary workaday world, 
method may come to be judged in part by comparison with 
the manner in which materials are dealt with outside the 
school. 

Whatever the influence of society in general as a field for 
finding suggestions in regard to the most effective methods of 
_ , accomplishing educational purposes, the school 

imitation of should not become a crude imitator. It does not 
the worka- follow that because a certain method is eminently 

day world . , . . 

is not satis- Satisfactory m the industrial world the same 
factory method will have sufficient educational value to 

justify its use in the school. Educational aims (which, we 
must remember, are ultimately social) should bring about 
proper selection, adaptation, and refinement of such sugges- 
tions and influences as are received from the conditions and 
activities of society in the large. 

Tradition as a Factor. In actual practice method is 
largely determined by tradition, by imitation. The young 
teacher of to-day goes into the work with more or less theo- 
retical training and practice ; but the instant he is in the 
schoolroom he begins to fall back upon those methods with 



Method 395 

which he became familiar as a pupil several years previously. 
Whether those methods were good or bad makes no differ- 
ence ; they force themselves to the front because 
they promise an immediate solution of the press- ^ most 
ing problems of the moment. After the teacher powerful 
has begun to find himself, to have control of the actual deter- 
ever-changing situation, he may be able to turn minationof 
his attention to the improvement of his methods 
by taking thought concerning them. Many teachers fail 
to rise to this level of self-criticism; and unless they are 
helped by expert supervision they go along through their 
careers following the example set by their teachers, who 
in turn had done the same thing, back to remote antiquity 
apparently. 

Method, interpreted in the broad sense as the process of 
utilizing both the subject matter of education and the 
activities of the developing human material in 
such a way as to help realize the ideals which fa"tors ^ 
society sets for itself, is a composite of various determining 
forces. From the beginning of schools subject 
matter has been chosen as a result of the greatest social 
interests and almost invariably it has dominated method. 
In contrast with this general practice came the theory that 
the fundamental principles of method were to be discovered 
in the nature of the learner — that psychology should be the 
foundation of method. Down to the present time most 
books on method of teaching are dominated by one or the 
other of these two conceptions, — the logic of the subject 
matter or the psychology of the learner. In addition to 
these two factors, however, consideration should be given 
the larger aims of education and the general character of the 
society in which the school exists and in which the pupils 
live and are to live. Method, then, should be the product of 
these four factors : the aim of education, the nature of the 
social processes, the psychology of the learner, and the nature 



396 The School as a Social Institution 

of the subject matter. Method should not be considered 
apart from these factors individually or collectively, but 
should be regarded as inseparable from them. While 
theoretically the aim of education ought to determine the 
nature of the process including both content and method, 
as a matter of fact neither is thus determined. 

Social Standards for Judging Method 

Difficulty of Formulating Social Standards. If a merchant 

wishes to measure the effectiveness of a certain method of 

. advertising he has but to use the comparatively 

standard, simple process of comparing the outlay with 

the amount ^j^g returns. In like manner if the farmer wishes 

of reproduc- 
ible knowi- to know the value of a given method of cultivation 

edge, Yie has an easily measured product upon which to 

base his conclusions. By analogy it has been taken for 
granted that method in education is to be measured by the 
visible results which it can show. The result universally 
chosen is reproducible knowledge ; and the form of measure- 
ment is the examination. The pupil is asked to give the 
boundaries of certain states, to narrate certain events in 
history, to multiply and divide, to give definitions. If he 
is able to give satisfactory answers to a reasonable number 
of questions, the method by which he was taught is con- 
sidered effective. 

Such a form of measurement is very good for the purpose 
of discovering one thing: how much the pupil retains at 
that particular moment. It is not a very ade- 
satisfactory Q^ate instrument if it is supposed to be a measure- 
measure of ment of method in a broad sense. Reproducible 
™ ° knowledge, while of very great importance, is not 

to be confused with the entire aim of education. There 
are some matters of prime importance which it is the func- 
tion of method to make the permanent possession of the 
learner; but unfortunately the testing reveals little or 



Method 397 

nothing in regard to permanence. Recent review on the 
part of one pupil produces a larger amount of measurable 
material than does the really permanent possession of an- 
other pupil who has failed to indulge in special preparation 
for the test. 

It may be added that what is regarded as a very thorough 
test of knowledge is generally very superficial after all; for 
the broadest examination can cover but a small 
part of the material which is supposed to be the tests^are 
basis of the test. It may perhaps be true that necessarily 
a random selection of a small number of important 
questions will prove about as satisfactory a test as a list 
covering the whole subject in detail; but even then it 
must still be admitted that as it stands the limited test is 
superficial. Whatever the amount of knowledge revealed, it 
does not follow that the entire function of method has been 
realized nor indeed that the most important results have 
been secured. " Even if the customary examinations fairly 
tested the understanding of facts, such understanding is 
only one of the principal things expected from instruction, 
and not the most important. Indeed, there are several 
things above and beyond knowledge which should result 
from instruction ; and the latter does or does not include 
these according to the degree of excellence." (Frank 
McMurry, Report on Quality of Classroom Instruction, City 
of New York, 1911-12, page 6.) 

In order to avoid all misunderstanding it is well to em- 
phasize the fact that tests of knowledge are not regarded 
as having an unimportant bearing upon the ^. . 
merits of any method which is being tested ; but portance of 
it must be borne in mind that when we test the l^o^^edge 

IS not to be 

amount of reproducible knowledge we are testing minimized, 
only a fraction of what method should accompHsh. ^o^^^^er 
The present movement for the establishment of standard 
tests is of immense value in revealing slovenly methods of 



398 The School as a Social Institution 

teaching ; but the best test that can be devised for dis- 
covering a pupil's accompHshment in any subject is a test of 
that accomphshment alone. It may be that any method 
which does not result in a readily discoverable and measur- 
able body of knowledge is to be condemned forthwith ; but 
it does not follow that every method which does produce 
such results is realizing all the aims of education, or indeed 
any of them with this single exception. 

Society sets great value upon knowledge and in general 
seems to have a naive belief in the dictum " Knowledge is 
power." From the social point of view, then, we cannot 
afford to neglect this standard as one of the criteria for the 
measurement of the effectiveness of method. But difficult as 
this is in its appHcation it is very simple and tangible in com- 
parison with some of the other standards which must be 
discovered. To these less tangible criteria we shall now turn. 

The Development of Ideals as a Standard. Of all the 
important factors in life there is nothing that stands out 
with greater prominence than the need of ideals, 
portance of Even though it seems impossible to set up a 
cultivating standard test for the measurement of these forces 
generally i^ ^^^ lives, it is stiU very necessary that they be 
recognized regarded as one of the most important bases for 
ye uca ois ^^^ criticism of the results of method of education. 
Bagley has laid great stress upon the necessity of developing 
ideals as a means of realizing the higher aims of education 
and of solving the old puzzle of the relation of conduct in 
general to the specific activities of the learning process. 
The development of ideals he regards as the function of 
method rather than that of subject matter, as may be in- 
ferred from the following quotation : " That the student of 
engineering or agriculture or commerce does not always ac- 
quire ideals that mark the cultured and refined ' gentleman ' is 
not the fault of subject matter, but rather that of method." 
{The Educative Process, page 221.) 



Method 399 

With the substitution of the word motive for ideal, we find 
a similar conception in Professor Frank McMurry's theory : 
" Instruction cannot rest with cold facts alone. Its quality 
is to be measured, partly, by its provision for the growth of 
motive. One object of teaching a pupil how to keep the 
skin healthy should be to arouse a desire on his part to prac- 
tice the rules of hygiene thus learned. One object of teaching 
him how to play games should be to make him want to learn 
more games, even throughout life. One object of teaching 
the Crusades in history might well be, by showing how 
superficial the causes were, and how much the warfare cost, 
to influence the youth's attitude toward the present move- 
ment for arbitration. One object of teaching about John 
Hampden is to lead pupils to determine to imitate him." 
(Op. cit., page 8.) 

If the objection be raised that there is no possible way of 
measuring ideals or of watching their development, and that 
therefore method ought not to be measured by so 
intangible a standard, we shall have to admit the measuring" 
premise although we deny the conclusion. It is the product 
true that there is no yard-stick for^ the measure- f^r neglect 
ment of ideals. We cannot judge a child's prog- of the 
ress by asking him how many ideals he has 
formed. We can find out something about the ideals which 
he has concerning a character like Lincoln ; but a cold, in- 
tellectual examination into the matter would be very likely 
to dissipate the vital emotional element. Even though this 
is true, it does not follow that method should not be judged 
by the opportunity given for the formation of ideals. We 
should not permit ourselves to fall a prey to the suspicion 
that whatever cannot be measured and set down in mathe- 
matical terms must on that account be too vague to be 
worth serious effort. 

The Cultivation of a Social Spirit. If method is con- 
sidered merely in the narrow sense of handling the content 



400 The School as a Social Institution 

of a book in such a fashion that the pupils will understand 
_, . and remember it, the introduction of an idea 

Ine impor- 
tance of the Hke sociability seems altogether inconsistent if 
social spint j^q^ incoherent. It is this narrow conception of 

suggests the . ^ 

necessity of method that we must avoid. When the meaning 
applying it ^f ^^le term is expanded to include the treatment 

as a stand- ^ 

ard in judg- of the human element, the pupils, their activities 
ing method ^^^ attitudes, it becomes much clearer that there 
is great need of the proper social spirit and that the kind 
of spirit developed must be one of the standards for judging 
method. 

In the chapter on The Social Ideals of the School, we have 
discussed the great importance to society of such char- 
acteristics as sociabiHty and cooperation. What is said 
there in a general way applies specifically to method. We 
cannot expect these traits to result from the mere presence 
of any kind of subject matter, even though it be of greatest 
social value. They must come as the product of the teacher's 
efforts in what we call method. That method which leaves 
much lacking in this particular cannot be called good, 
whatever be its effectiveness in sectiring mastery of subject 
matter. 

In the application of this standard it is especially necessary 

to give attention to the class as a whole ; as it is very easy to 

mistake a condition which is true of a small but 

In the appii- active minority of pupils for that which char- 
cation of J L- L- 

the acterizes the entire group. When the knowledge 

th^'^h^'i ^^^^ ^^ applied there is httle danger of overlooking 

group must any pupil weak or strong ; but when a teacher or 

be consid- supervisor observes a class with the intention 

ered ^ . 

of discovering to what extent cooperation and 
good social spirit exist, it is very easy to judge the group 
by a few individuals. A negative judgment, however, should 
not be rendered simply because of the inactivity of some of 
the members of the class. Their failure to manifest those 



Method 401 

characteristics which we regard as evidence of the desired 
spirit may be due more to diffidence or ignorance than to 
lack of sociabihty or of wilKngness to cooperate. 

In a situation such as is found in a history lesson for 
example, the presence of a good social spirit and the practice 
of cooperation means that there shall be something more 
than the mere repeating and discussing of the materials by 
pupils acting as individuals. There should be a free inter- 
change of ideas among all the members of the class. Those 
who are in partial ignorance should have the same freedom 
to ask questions as other pupils have to recite; they should 
not feel that their function is to keep out of sight. On the 
other hand, those pupils who have a superior comprehension 
of the material under discussion should not feel that they are 
making their contribution for the benefit of the teacher, or 
merely for the sake of showing him that they have mastered 
the work of the lesson. 

In the application of this standard it may be regarded as 
quite certain that when the pupils participate in the recitation 
in such a manner as to indicate that they believe ^^^^ 
they are merely talking to the teacher and that must be 
the lesson is solely a test of their preparation, the observed 
qualities of sociability and cooperation are lacking. Para- 
doxical as it may seem, it is often true that the reason for a 
lack of the social spirit in a class is the overwhelming pres- 
ence of the teacher. When to this condition is added the 
feeling that the recitation is purely an individual matter, the 
development of the social spirit becomes practically im- 
possible. The reason that there can be little that is social 
is simply that the pupils are a collection of individuals rather 
than a unified group. A further reason for lack of a spirit 
of cooperation is to be found in a condition of unhealthy 
rivalry, which serves only to emphasize the individualistic 
idea and to prevent that amalgamation which makes a class 
a little society. 



402 The School as a Social Institution 

As a standard for judging method the development of 

the spirit of sociabihty and of mutual helpfulness can 

hardly be taken in any absolute sense. Much 

standard ^^ ^^6 work of the school must necessarily be 

should not decidedly individual. To attempt to conduct 

obscure the . -, i <• i . i 

need of ^^ a social process every class oi whatever degree 
individual of advancement and in whatever subject would 

achievement i,--, , ^ a ^ ^- -xi 

be to invite a great loss oi enectiveness in the 
work of the school. As the tradition of education, however, 
is pecuharly individuahstic it can do no harm to place 
considerable stress upon the necessity of developing group 
consciousness, sociability, and the spirit of co5peration, if 
we remember that this development does not mean the loss 
of the individual in the group. 

Freedom, Originality, and Initiative. It may seem in- 
consistent to speak of freedom in an institution which the 
pupil is required by law to attend, which presents a course 
of study from which there is little deviation, and which is 
equipped in such a way that freedom of movement is reduced 
to a minimum. Freedom is a relative matter, however; 
and in the sense of being free to do anything whatsoever, or 
even to follow inclination continually, no one has it. At the 
outset then we may disregard the complaints of those persons 
who are outraged to find that school desks are fastened to 
the floor, that there is a daily program, and that pupils are 
required to attend at an exact and predetermined time. 

Freedom, originality, and initiative are to be considered 

purely in a relative state. When the child feels that he is 

^ . doing what he likes to do, when he can try his own 

Freedom, ^ . . ' . . -^ 

originality, ways of doing things, when he is permitted to set 

and initia- ^bout activities without the obvious pressure of 

tive are , . . i • i i i 

relative authority it may be said that the opportunity 

terms £qj. fj-eedom, originality, and initiative exists. 

It is the spirit of the method rather than the actual fact of 

the work to be done that is of importance. A teacher whose 



Method 403 

method is based upon the attitude, " You must," is hardly 
Hkely to cultivate much sense of freedom among his pupils ; 
while another teacher with less consciousness of authority 
will make his pupils feel that they are acting freely in doing 
the very same work. 

Opportunity for initiative means that the pupil has occa- 
sion to set about doing things which are not immediately 
prescribed by the teacher. He has a voice in suggesting what 
is to be done and how to do it. He is encouraged to dis- 
cover, to do, to pursue ideas, to bring up questions out of 
the background of his own interests and wishes, not merely 
following the path of learning as he is urged along by the 
teacher but pushing ahead through his own volition. It 
means that the dull grind of having to do day after day what 
is prescribed by the teacher is lightened by the possibility 
of setting up aims and trying to attain them without the 
immediate force of authority. 

It must be remembered that there is much material which 
the pupil ought to master which is not subject to the free 
play of originality. It is not supposed that the child will 
make a new multiplication table of his own or that he will 
work out a new history of the events of the American Revolu- 
tion. These facts, however, do not mean that the learner is 
to be but a slavish memorizer of the textbook material. 
Good method will so arrange conditions and materials that 
the activities and interests of the learner will be continually 
related to the course of study in such a way as to make the 
most of his power and desire to do for himself. . , 

Rousseau's idea that everything should be made schoolroom 
to depend upon the initiative of the pupil can ^g^^ndsa 
hardly fit into a scheme of education in which compromise 
merely normal children are making their crude ^^l^^^^j^ 
attempts to gain an insight into the world of and free- 
men and things. In actual practice we need ^°^^°"^^^ 
rather to modify the idea and say that while the initiative 



404 The School as a Social Institution 

superior wisdom of adults guides the learner in his prog- 
ress, continual encouragement should be given him to initiate 
activities for himself and follow them in the satisfaction of 
his own desires. If the child were very familiar with the 
world with which he is merely gaining familiarity, if he had a 
philosophical sense of values, we might adopt Rousseau's 
idea and leave the direction of his mental development to 
his own initiative. If he had no capacity to initiate activities, 
if he had no originality, and if he were never to need these 
qualities, we might leave all to the immediate guidance of 
authority. But as neither of these suppositions is true, we 
need to make a compromise between the two extremes of no 
oversight and too obtrusive control, thus making the most 
of initiative and freeing the pupil from the danger of a 
career utterly without guidance. 

Development of the Sense of Responsibility. It is 

obvious that a feeling of freedom without a sense of obligation 

to any person or to any ideal may become a 

The sense positive menace to the school and later to society. 

of responsi- ... . 

bility should Responsibility should be just as surely an outcome 

be set up as q£ education as freedom. It is probably true that 

a standard . ^ '' 

equal in im- the school throughout its history has made too 

portance to ^nMch of authority and too little of freedom, that 

freedom "^ ' 

it has tended to make the teacher the one person 
to whom pupils are responsible. Method must be measured 
in terms of its success in avoiding both these evils. While 
it is true that the feeling of responsibility begins its develop- 
ment in the relationships to other persons who have power to 
reward satisfactory conduct and punish unsatisfactory, it 
should be gradually raised above that level to a plane where 
a sense of duty rather than a fear of punishment is sufficient. 
It is the function of method to assist in this transition. 

In the old type of school dominated by the disciplinary 
conception of education, the pupil was forever face to face 
with authority and responsibility; while there seems to 



Method 405 

be some tendency in recent times to make the whole school 
system a kindergarten in which no pupil ever has to do 
anything that he does not want to do, it is hardly 
necessary to go back to the old harsh methods in jj^s^ gener- 
order to develop a sense of responsibility ; and yet ally been 
there may be some danger that well meant efforts ty'tte* ^ 
to provide for freedom of development will fail standard 

J ■ 1 • 1 /• 1 J. of responsi- 

to secure this very necessary phase of character. |,iyty 
However, as teachers are generally trained at 
present, there seems to be slight danger that they will mini- 
mize the importance of the doctrine of responsibility in their 
treatment of their pupils. 

Opportunity for the application of this standard is to be 
found not only in the activities of the classroom but also in 
the things which pupils voluntarily undertake, in the games 
which they play, in the matter of regularity and punctuality 
of attendance. In all these cases the mere matter of respon- 
sibility is interrelated with various other factors such as 
interest, habit, and desire for approbation. Its presence 
is not as noticeable as its absence. For this reason it is a 
standard which is extremely difficult to apply. 

The Desire for Progress. From the social point of view 
one of the most deplorable results of formal edu- 
cation is the lack of desire to continue outside f^ys ^o 
of school and after school life the paths of Intel- develop a 
lectual progress. For many persons the high further 
point of intellectual life is marked by the day of progress, 

, , . 1 . o • J 1 1 T_ much is lost 

graduation or leaving, bociety loses much be- 
cause of this failure of the school to implant a greater zeal 
for learning in the hearts of children. 

One of the most important tests of method is the tendency 
which it leaves to pursue further the activities which have 
begun or to proceed from them to others of a related nature. 
The success of the method of Socrates, for example, is 
measured by the degree to which he inspired young men to 



406 The School as a Social Institution 

pursue moral themes and to seek the higher good. The 
application of this test to the method of teaching may per- 
haps be made plainer by contrasting Socrates and 
oocrfl.t6s 

and Aristotle as teachers. The Socratic method m- 

Aristotie are gpipgd many to pursue further the themes which 

contrasting ^ . 

types of were the great interests in the life of their 

teachers teacher; the teaching method of Aristotle, al- 
though he is said to have been a most eloquent lecturer, 
does not seem to have inspired his pupils to a continuation 
of those activities which he himself had dealt with by 
the inductive method. Consequently, while he stands un- 
rivaled as an original investigator, he is not to be mentioned 
with Socrates as a teacher. 

Perhaps it is too much to expect that the method of teach- 
ing together with the worth of the subject matter will be 
able to instill in all pupils in elementary school, high school, 
and college that active attitude toward the various subjects 
studied which will lead them immediately and later to go 
ahead without the stimulus of the school or the compulsion 
of the course of study. Yet it is of immeasurable importance 
that this result should be secured in a high degree. 

Although this standard is not of such a nature that a 

supervisor or a school survey committee can readily discover 

the kind of results indicated and measure them 

^y^f *^? in quantitative terms, it is still of greatest im- 
standard is ^ ' ° . 

hard to portance that the teacher shall recognize its 

apply the existence and use it as a means of measuring his 
teacher . . . ° 

should success. The teacher who keeps it. in mind and 

recognize Its -^orks to have results which can be judged by it 
importance . j o ^ 

will from month to month and from year to year 

have one of the surest indices of his success. He should not 

let its importance and attractiveness obscure his interest 

in securing those immediate results which can be measured 

and set down mathematically ; nor, on the other hand, should 

he permit his use of more objective measurements to lead 



Method 407 

him to neglect the frequent appHcation of this less tangible 
and more difficult standard. 

The Social Interpretation of the Curriculum. Even at 
its best the curriculum is but dead material until appropriate 
method gives it life. Imparting life to this 
material depends in large part upon making uium is 
clear its worth, while this in turn is closely largely 
related to its social bearings. Much of the ^e^^sodaa 
material in the course of study has value not be- interpreta- 
cause of what it offers the pupil as an individual, 
but because of what it gives him as a member of society. 
It is of considerable importance, then, that in the work of 
teaching a large amount of attention be directed to giving 
the elements of the curriculum a social interpretation. 

Even in a subject like arithmetic, which may be taught 
almost entirely as abstract mathematical theory with applica- 
tion to correspondingly abstract problems, there is much 
opportunity to weave into the method of handling the 
material an appreciable amount of social interpretation. In 
insurance, for example, it is possible to develop the rules 
that govern the manipulation of the factors involved and then 
apply these rules to certain set problems, all without giving 
the pupil the slightest inkling of the social background of the 
subject. On the other hand, it is just as possible to develop 
with the theoretical mathematical treatment of the topic 
an understanding of the relationships that are actually 
involved, together with clear ideas of their social significance. 

The Application of Social Standards. One of the first 

things to be considered in the use of any set of 

standards of value as applied to method of teach- J^® appUca- 
'^'^ tion of these 

ing is the extent of time which is allowed for the social 
investigation. Disregarding as too silly and pre- standards is 

a. J)xOC6SS 

sumptuous for serious consideration those ad- which 
ministrative officers who fondly imagine that by f^"^^^l*j, 
a glimpse of five minutes they can render an ade- of time 



408 The School as a Social Institution 

quate judgment of teaching method, we need to note that 
in the case of some of the standards suggested the ob- 
jective facts are not clearly discernible to the observer. 
Such important standards as the opportunity for the cultiva- 
tion of ideals and the development of a desire for progress 
are hardly to be measured in any single lesson period. Evi- 
dence of the existence of conditions which satisfy these stand- 
ards appear only from time to time, noticeable indeed to the 
teacher who is striving to make his work measure up to 
them, but generally beyond the view of the casual observer. 

Furthermore it must be borne in mind that each of the 
foregoing standards is not to be applied rigidly to every class 
exercise. They are meant to apply to the total 
basedupon work of the teacher rather than to each particular 
a short lesson. The method of a teacher should not be 

observation regarded as unsatisfactory, for example, if the 
is likely to development of the social spirit is often sacrificed 
e wrong ^^ ^j^^ necessities of highly individualized activi- 
ties ; but that total method which never gives opportunity 
for the growth of social spirit is thoroughly to be condemned. 

The application of these standards is designed rather to 
give balance to the general method of the individual by 
_,, setting up certain desirable characteristics which 

standards are to be sought in the process of teaching. It 
are to give j[g £qj. ^]^g teacher to bear them in mind while 

balance to 

the teaching planning the work from day to day, striving to 

method secure a proper balance between these highly 

important social standards and those equally necessary 

criteria of individual achievement. In some cases objective 

testing for results will be practically impossible, 
^^eyare or ^^^ application of the standards being thus 
teacher's turned to what the teacher is consciously trying 

to do rather than to what can actually be meas- 
ured. Thus, while much of the success of the teacher's method 
is to be measured by the nature of the ideals cultivated. 



Method 409 

it is impossible to secure accurate knowledge of the ideals 
which are actually formed in the pupils' minds. 

It is for the teacher, then, to add to the daily task of seeing 
that adequate knowledge is gained such more intangible but 
not less important characteristics as opportunities for the 
development of ideals, for the cultivation of the social spirit, 
for the exercise of freedom, originality, and initiative, for 
the growth of the feeling of responsibility, for the expansion 
of the desire for progress, and for the social interpretation of 
subject matter. 

Types of Method 

An examination of almost any textbook on method of 
teaching will reveal the fact that the basis of treatment is 
almost universally psychological, that the under- The point of 
lying idea is individual rather than social. The ^®^ ^^^^ '^ 

socifll rflthcr 

student of method is generally concerned with thanpsycho- 
the problem of finding the most effective means logical 
of insuring that the material presented shall be properly as- 
similated by the individual pupil. Nothing that is said in 
this work, dominated as it is by the social point of view, 
should be considered as detracting one iota from the im- 
portance of the psychological foundations of education. 
Method which is truly social in its essence must likewise be 
based upon sound psychology, just as method which is truly 
psychological must give proper place to the social nature of 
the child and the social aim of education. Consequently, 
while we shall not here discuss such topics as induction, de- 
duction, drill, examination, and the Five Formal Steps, all 
of which are quite strictly psychological or logical in their 
nature, we shall try to keep from forgetting the importance 
of such processes in the work of education. The gain in 
technique of instruction, made laboriously through the cen- 
turies, is not to be set aside lightly nor overlooked even in 
the social consideration of the problems of method. 



410 The School as a Social Institution 

The Method of Individual Instruction. In theory, the 
method used in the school should offer the same opportunities 
Ne le t of *^ every pupil ; but, in fact, we generally find this 
the individ- Scripture fulfilled : "To him that hath shall be 
•^^ '^^^"i*^ given." The pupil of talent and aggressiveness 
almost invariably receives more than his share of 
attention ; while the child of less ability and less of the 
instinct of self-assertiveness is likely to be lost to sight. It 
is the natural tendency of teachers in the conduct of the 
recitation to give more opportunity to the bright pupil 
than to the dull one. 

This is a condition which means real social loss in whatever 
measure the slower and less aggressive pupils are concerned. 
While it may be a gain to society to have the school develop 
certain qualities of leadership and aggressiveness in a few, 
it is just as truly a loss to have a considerable proportion of 
pupils confirmed in a natural tendency to sit passively and 
listen to the recitation, conversation, or discussion of others. 
Society is the loser by having an appreciable number of 
children so completely lost in the mass that they fail to secure 
that amount and quality of preparation which it is the right 
of all to receive. Even from the financial point of view 
it may be seen that the State loses a large sum annually 
through those repeaters who might not have been such 
had they received more individual attention. 

To remedy the evil which often results from the class 

method of instruction, repeated attempts have been made 

to restore some of that individual attention which 

The Batavia ^^^g ^j^g ^.^jg ^^ ^Y\e old days when every pupil was 
System IS an . -^ ^ r- r- 

attempt to a class unto himself. As an example of this 

remedy the ^^ j^^^y ygfgj. iq ^}^g Batavia System. This plan, 

as worked out by Superintendent Kennedy, pro- 
vides for two teachers for the class, one of whom attempts 
to give individual help to pupils in one section while the 
other carries on the usual class work with the other section. 



Method 411 

The method thus combines the class idea with the practice 

of devoting special attention to individual needs. It should 

be noted that the method as originally devised was used 

with special care to prevent that further weakening of the 

weak by doing work for them rather than by leading them 

to overcome their own difficulties. 

The Socratic Method. While the method of Socrates 

is generally treated from the purely psychological point of 

view as a means of securing clear ideas through a ^. „ 

... » , . , , , The Socratic 

combmed process ot destruction and develop- method 

ment, it has in it much that is fundamental in ^^^^^^^^^ .. 
social method. Instead of initiating his pupils is essen- 
into certain fields of knowledge through various **^y ^°"*^ 
rites centering in the idea of instruction, as Pythagoras is 
said to have done, or lecturing as Aristotle did, Socrates 
joined his hearers (his pupils) in a search for truth in such a 
way that all were participants. In The Republic of Plato, 
in which, to be sure, the Socratic dialogue is used as a literary 
device, we may see the essentials of the method. Socrates 
is surrounded by a group of seekers after truth or amuse- 
ment, all of whom are apparently anxious to contribute to 
the success of the effort to discover Justice. There is the 
freest give and take in the development of ideas bearing 
upon the general theme. The leader of the group does not 
preach or lecture to his hearers, but converses with them in 
such a way as to bring about a free interchange of ideas with 
all the modifications of points of view, theories, and concep- 
tions likely to occur when a group of interested and intelligent 
people are discussing a matter that appeals to all. The 
advocate of an idea which is unsatisfactory to the leader 
or to the group has the privilege of defending and modifying 
or abandoning it under the pressure of argument by others. 
In the cooperation of such a group as we have described 
there are the essentials of social method. In the first place 
there must be enough community of interest to hold the 



412 The School as a Social Institution 

group together. In the second place the theme or problem 
must be one in the development of which cooperation is 
It ■ b d possible. It must require the combined knowl- 
upon com- edge and experience of the group rather than the 
mon interest, (ji^tum of any individual member. Furthermore, 

cooperative '' 

effort, and there must be a large amount of freedom, absence 
freedom q£ ^ dictatorial policy on the part of the leader, 
willingness to hear as well as to be heard. There must, 
however, be adequate leadership to prevent mere rambling 
and waste of time in irrelevancies. 

While this method may seem adapted solely to the pursuit 
of philosophical themes by mature students, it may well 
. , find frequent use in the elementary school, even 

An example ^ . . .„ 

of the use of in the lower grades. The following incident will 
this method illustrate. Some fourth-grade pupils who were 
studying letter writing found occasion to write to one of their 
number who was absent on account of illness. Their doings 
on Memorial Day, which had just passed, offered a general 
theme for composition. The teacher skilfully took advantage 
of the circumstances to have the members of the class carry 
on a Socratic discussion of what should be put into the 
letter, how it should be told, how it should be made most 
interesting to the intended recipient. All this gave oppor- 
tunity for the pupils to present suggestions, criticisms, 
arguments, and conclusions just as truly as could have 
been the case if Socrates himself had been present. The 
dialogue, conducted by the teacher or under her guidance, 
led to a vision of certain inconsistencies just as well as if she 
had been conscious of a definite plan to make use of the 
Socratic irony; while the suggestions which came to be 
considered valid were as effectively supported as if maieutic 
had been present in her mind. 

The Socialized Recitation. The idea of conducting 
recitations with groups of pupils seems to have developed 
for reasons of economy of time and effort, not because of 



Method 413 

any conception of the social value of having children work 
together in groups. Yet the value of the recitation as a 
class exercise is much greater than the mere sav- 
ing of time and energy which results from dealing recitation 
with a group instead of a succession of individ- has some 
uals. Even where no effort is made to utilize ^ ' 

forces which are distinctly social, there is still present in 
some measure that socializing force which is bound to mani- 
fest itself when members of a somewhat homogeneous group 
are working upon materials of common interest. 

Within the past few years there have been numerous 
attempts to make the most of the obvious opportunities for 
transforming the recitation period into a time 
for the development of cooperation, for training effort is 
in leadership and initiative, for the development of necessary to 
a sense of responsibility, and for using the group activities 
stimulus. The utihzation of these ideas means high social 

si £f Qlficfi. n.c 6 

negatively that the teacher is not to be as much 
in the foreground as is usually the case in the ordinary 
recitation. There is an attempt to transform a group of 
hermetically isolated individuals, each of whom makes his 
contribution solely with the idea of satisfying the teacher, 
into an actively cooperating group in which each does his 
share of work and receives a certain amount of benefit 
from the activities of others. Such is the nature of the 
socialized recitation. 

The idea may perhaps be clearer if we consider a brief 
description of a socialized recitation in a subject such as 
history. The work has of course been planned 
by the teacher. Where materials have been con- ^tJg*"^^® 
sidered necessary to supplement the text the sociaUzed 
teacher has arranged to have groups or individuals ^sJ^°° "^ 
do the necessary reading with the definite purpose 
of giving the entire class the benefit of their study. In the 
conduct of the recitation itself the method is to have some 



414 The School as a Social Institution 

pupil discuss a topic as fully and as accurately as he can; 
then he gives other pupils the opportunity to make corrections 
and additions, to ask him questions in regard to what he has 
said or what he thinks of certain facts which he has brought 
out. The teacher keeps in the background and assumes 
the work of direction only when it becomes necessary through 
the inability of the pupils to deal satisfactorily with the 
matter at hand. Even then he tries rather to enable the 
pupils to realize their own problem and the necessity of 
solving it themselves. Topic after topic is treated in the 
manner mentioned until the material of the lesson is covered. 
At the end some pupil may, for the benefit of the class, 
summarize the work of the entire lesson. 

The advantages of the socialized recitation are that it 
makes a powerful use of the group stimulus, thus obviating 
, the need of pressure from the teacher; that it 

tagesofthe encourages freedom and independence in dis- 
method cussion ; that it makes it possible to emphasize 
the point of view of the pupil rather than that of the teacher ; 
that it gives a large amount of training in the very necessary 
practice of listening courteously to the opinions and even the 
criticism of others ; that it serves to place upon the pupils 
the responsibility of seeing that the best use is made of the 
time available, thus helping destroy that artificial sense of 
responsibility to the teacher. 

Some of the disadvantages or dangers of the method are 

that the timid or diffident pupil may be neglected; that 

the talkative will monopolize the time ; that the 

Its disad- proper relative value of different topics may 
vantages . r- ./ 

not be made evident ; that freedom may lead to 
confusion, disorder, and waste of time ; that criticism may 
become too bitter on the one hand or too perfunctory on the 
other. 

With skillful guidance and planning on the part of the 
teacher the method may be exceedingly valuable. Whatever 



Method 415 

the dangers may be, it is certainly true that the only way to 
lead pupils to make right use of freedom is to permit them 
to have it. The capacity for self-direction along profitable 
lines can be developed only through placing the responsibiUty 
for it in increasing measure upon the growing child. It is 
also true that the most effective way to develop proper 
social attitudes is to place pupils in situations which will 
call forth the desired characteristics, adequate assistance 
and supervision by the teacher being assumed. The fact 
that we cannot depend upon random activities outside the 
school to develop right social attitudes or to train that capac- 
ity for self-direction which makes freedom profitable shows 
very clearly that the teacher can well afford to spend much 
thought in devising means to socialize the recitation, that is, 
to work out methods which will accomplish social as well as 
individual ends. 

Dramatization. A form of cooperation which has grown 
into high favor, especially in the kindergarten and lower 
grades, is dramatization. While the value of this 

,11. i • 1 1 • 1 ii Dramatiza- 

method is very great m breaking down the tion appeals 

excessive formalism which often characterizes to social 
the early work in reading (to speak only of the 
lower grades), it has a correspondingly great importance 
in developing something of the social spirit which is 
desirable in the school. The value of this method 
may be further seen in the fact that it appeals to social 
motives such as the desire to work effectively with others, 
to produce something which will be of interest to the whole 
group, or to be a part in a group which is working toward 
a common end. In addition to this the process of dramatiza- 
tion gives opportunity to develop the power to identify one- 
self with the thoughts and feelings of others, a capacity 
which is not without great social value. 

The fields in which dramatization may be used are much 
wider than the reference to primary reading suggests. In 



416 The School as a Social Institution 

the teaching of history, dramatization (including the produc- 
tion of pageants) may often be used to give vitahty to the 
It may be work. Representation of characters and events 
used in van- is in itself a valuable process of socialization. In 
o^s e s geography the making of imaginary journeys, the 
representation of other peoples, and cooperation of members 
of the class to show how an industry is carried on are but 
forms of dramatization. Likewise in arithmetic, the actual 
representation of a business transaction, such as taking out 
insurance, is a form of dramatization. By such processes as 
these the social value of the material presented is increased 
as much as the actual comprehension of the pupils. 
\ 

Summary 

Method is to be based not upon a single educational factor 
but is to be founded upon three determining elements : the 
educational ideal, the character of the subject matter, and 
the nature of the child. It is a process of utilizing the 
materials of education in such a way as to stimulate the 
learner to those activities which will tend to realize the aims 
of education. In the history of the school, logical and psy- 
chological considerations have had more weight than the social. 
In developing the most effective type of education it is 
necessary to have a psychological foundation which is social, 
not merely individualistic ; to make the social aim a living 
reality in the minds of teachers, not a mere abstraction of the 
educational philosopher; and to give due consideration to 
the nature of society as it actually exists, emphasizing ideal 
elements rather than the crude and base. A factor of doubt- 
ful value is tradition, which leads teachers to imitate the 
methods of their own teachers without a proper weighing 
of their worth. 

The standards for judging method should be based upon 
rather remote social ideals as well as upon immediate and 



Method 417 

objective details such as the pupils' ability to reproduce 
subject matter. The following social standards are sug- 
gested, more as a guide for the teacher than for the use of 
supervisors and inspectors : (1) opportunity for the develop- 
ment of ideals ; (2) cultivation of the social spirit, as seen 
in the individual and in the group ; (3) freedom, originality, 
and initiative, — three ideas that stand in contrast with 
authority; (4) development of the sense of responsibility 
equal in importance to freedom ; (5) the desire for progress, 
without which the influence of the school is limited to the 
period of attendance; (6) the social interpretation of the 
course of study as a means of giving real value to subject 
matter and to the activities of pupils. In the application 
of such standards it is necessary to deal with long periods 
of time and with the general character of the teacher's work. 
When consciously used by the teacher, they tend to give a 
proper balance to method and to overcome the tendency to 
judge efficiency in terms of the mechanical rather than the 
ideal. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Dewey, John, School and Society. 

Dewey, John, Democracy and Education. Chapter XIII, Nature of 

Method. 
Earhart, Lida B., Types of Teaching. Chapter XI, Socializing 

Exercises. 
HoLLiSTER, H. A., High-School and Class Management. Chapter 

X. 
Hunter, F. M., The Socialized Recitation. Journal of the National 

Education Association, 1 : 101-106. 
King, Irving, Social Aspects of Education. Chapter XIX, The 

Social Atmosphere of the School and the Learning Process. 
McMurry, C. a.. Conflicting Principles in Teaching. Chapters 

V and VIII. 
McMxTRRY, Frank, Report on the Quality of Class Room Instruc- 
tion. New York City School Inquiry, 1911-12. 
Moore, Ernest C, What is Education? Chapter VII, The Place 

of Method in Education. 



418 The School as a Social Institution 

Parker, C. S., Methods of Teaching in High Schools. Chapters 

XV, XVIII, XX. 
Smith, W. R., Introduction to Educational Sociology. Chapter XIX, 

Socialization of Teaching Methods. 
Strayer, G. D., The Teaching Process. Chapter XII, Social 

Phases of the Recitation. 
Whitney, W. F., The Socialized Recitation. 
Wilson, H, B. and G. M., The Motivation of School Work. 



CHAPTER XV 
THE TEACHER: SOCIAL PRODUCT AND SOCIAL FACTOR 



The teacher is like the artist, the pupils are his material through 
whom he is expressing his ideals. Such an artist teacher is spon- 
taneous and free in his methods, knowing the rules of the technique 
of teaching but subordinating them to his own purposes. He is 
self -expressive in letting his pupils fully into the secrets of his ambi- 
tion for them as individuals and in showing the ideals regnant in 
his own life. He is imaginative in handling the familiar material 
of instruction in new and unfamiliar ways, making contrasts and 
suggesting comparisons. He is imitative of the great masters of 
teaching, Socrates, Jesus, Pestalozzi, and Froebel, but in his own 
independent way. He is animated by the love of teaching, by the 
love of his pupils, and by the joy he finds in making ideals take root 
in human lives. — H. H. Horne, The Teacher as Artist, pages 23, 24. 



The history of education shows that great schools and 
important educational movements have always centered 
around great personahties, great teachers. Among ^j^^ .^ 
the Greeks, Pythagoras, Plato, Zeno, Aristotle, portanceof 
and Epicurus are the founders of schools of phi- f^ 3^^"^®'' 
losophy, the importance of the school depending great 
more upon the personahty of the teacher than f^^o^ta^*^ 
upon any other factor. The rise of universities in educational 
the Middle Ages is to be associated with the names movements 
of men Uke William of Champeaux, Abelard, and Irenseus. 
The new schools of the Renaissance grow out of the work 
of men Uke Vittorino da Feltre, John Sturm, Melanchthon, 
and Colet. The great educational movements of the nine- 
teenth century take the names of Pestalozzi, Herbart, and 
Froebel. But there is a tendency to sink the individual 

419 



420 The School as a Social Institution 

teacher in a sea of curriculum and method to such a depth 
that his essential importance is forgotten. The general 
effect of the psychological tendency in education 
Psychology j^g^g \)qq^ iq overemphasize the importance of 
sociology method ; while that of the sociological tendency 
have tended j^g^g \)qqj^ iq magnify the value of the course 

to magnify 

method and of study. Our schools are in danger of depend- 
subject jjjg ^QQ much upon dead subject matter and too 

Httle upon living persons, too much upon the 
technique of instruction and too little upon the living medi- 
ator in the process. 

It may be that the ultimate result of this emphasis upon 
subject matter and method will be to show the prime im- 
Butitis portance of the teacher. It is the teacher who 
necessary makes the subject matter live, if it is to rise from 
thelmpor" ^^^ condition of inertness into that of living 
tance of the character. It is the teacher who makes of method 
teacher ^ philosopher's stone to transmute the base metal 

of books and things into the gold of experience. In the most 
important phases of education, even a very little of person- 
ahty is of far more value than books, laboratories, and meth- 
ods, — this with all due respect to the mechanical and the 
material in education. 

Through the influence of Rousseau " The Child " was 
discovered and his predominating importance emphasized. 
Some of the facts disclosed later in this chapter will show 
that in America at least we need a new Rousseau to preach 
the importance of the teacher. " The kind of people we 
have in teaching necessarily affects the kind of teaching we 
get. Differences in race must make a vast difference in 
customs, traditions, moral and religious ideals, language 
habits, and originality. Differences due to social class, to 
economic station, to intellectual maturity, to academic and 
professional training, and the like, must likewise be im- 
portant factors affecting pubUc opinion of the merits of the 



The Teacher 421 

teacher and his work." (Coffman, Social Composition of 
the Teaching Population, page 14.) 

Social Classes from which Teachers are Recruited 

Although it is the teacher's own character and preparation 
that are the elements of greatest importance in determining 
his fitness for the work which he has chosen, it is possible 
to obtain some indirect light on the general situation by 
investigating his antecedents and his social and economic 
surroundings. It may help us understand what manner of 
person the teacher is if we can learn something of his par- 
entage, the amount of family income at the time when he 
began the work of teaching, the size of the family of which 
he was a member, and the occupation of his parents. A 
study of these matters was made by Coffman in his Social 
Composition of the Teaching Population. 

In regard to parentage Coffman found that of men teachers 
91.3 per cent are native born of native born parents, that 
7.3 per cent are native born with one or both 
parents foreign born, and that one per cent are |g°g^_ 
foreign born of foreign born parents. Of women ers are of 
teachers 83.8 per cent are native born of native p^entege 
parents, 14.9 per cent are native born with one 
or both parents foreign born, and 1.1 per cent are foreign born 
of foreign born parents. Concerning this situation he says : 
" The difference in the nativity classes of men and women 
is a matter of some consequence. The proportion of women 
in teaching is constantly increasing. Those who are native 
born with native born parents are only about eight ninths 
as numerous as the same class for men ; and those who have 
both parents foreign born are twice as numerous. If these 
differences are increasing, and there is some probability 
that they are in the large eastern cities, then the problem 
of training teachers who have not become thoroughly 



422 The School as a Social Institution 

Americanized becomes increasingly momentous." (Op. cit., 
page 57.) 

The language of the parents is of course predominantly 
EngHsh, — 76.4 per cent of men teachers and 73.3 per cent 
About ^^ women teachers being in this group. The 

three fourths language of next importance is German, — rep- 
ents ^aie^ resented by 11.3 per cent and 6 per cent for men 
EngUsh- and women respectively. Other groups repre- 
spea ng sented are Scandinavian, French, Swiss, Scotch, 
Polish, Bohemian, Jewish, Russian, and Danish. The west- 
ern European countries contribute a larger percentage than 
those of eastern Europe. " This must be due in part to 
the differences in the periods when these different nationah- 
ties have emigrated to this country and have become factors 
in the population of the country. Among the reports sent in 
no teachers were found among the immigrant classes from 
southern Europe. Apparently some stability of class from 
the point of view of mere time limit of residence is required 
before entrance into teaching can be secured." {Op. cit., page 
59.) 

Statistics in regard to the family income at the time the 
teacher began his work are not very satisfactory, as the 
element of judgment is involved; but it seems 
income is^ quite evident that the vast majority of teachers 
generally come from homes in which the income is exceed- 
s^nwo ^° i^gly meager. The median income of famihes 
from which the women teachers come is given by 
Coffman as $753, and of famihes from which men teachers 
come as $691, while the income of fifty per cent of the homes 
from which the two groups come is reported as being be- 
tween $359 and $1023 for men and between $441 and $1215 
for women. The age of beginning to teach is apparently 
affected but slightly if at all by the amount of parental in- 
come. Likewise the amount of training received is deter- 
mined but Uttle by this factor. 



The Teacher 423 

The size of the families from which teachers come is large 
comparatively. The number of brothers and sisters that 
men teachers have is four, while women teachers ^j^^ gj^e of 
have three. That is to say, the size of families famUies 
is seven and six respectively. "One man out teaches *^ 
of every five and one woman out of every four who come is 
enters teaching has one or both parents dead at ^^^ °^ ^®^®° 
the time he or she enters teaching. Necessity due to a 
broken home has driven the women who are in teaching to 
self-support harder than it has driven the men who are 
in teaching." {Op. cit., page 66.) 

Of the various occupations represented by parents of 
teachers, farming stands very decidedly predominant; but 
practically all classes are represented. After 
farming come the various trades and industries, thepredomi- 
the professions, the business men, the day la- nant occu- 
borers, and public officials. With the future parents* 
industrial development of the country the rela- 
tive number of teachers coming from the farm will probably 
decrease, while the proportion coming from homes supported 
by various other industries will undoubtedly increase. 

The importance of the social and economic background 
of the teacher should not be overemphasized, although it 
has considerable weight. Ability and sound- ^j^g ^^^ 
ness of character are as likely to be found among nomic back- 
the children of people who have a low economic fhe"teacher 
status as among those of the wealthier classes. If is impor- 
the work of teaching can attract the best young gh'ouid^Mt 
people of families who are compelled to five on be overem- 
a low economic level, we can be sure that in time ^ *^'^® 
they will manage to secure adequate training. However, 
if teaching merely offers the easiest way out of pressing 
economic necessities, is generally a stepping stone to some- 
thing more desirable, or is a makeshift while the teacher 
is waiting for an opportunity to retire to home life, then 



424 The School as a Social Institution 

the social and economic antecedents will make a tremen- 
dous difference ; for we cannot expect the teacher to make 
any serious effort to overcome the handicap which he suf- 
fers because of the limitations of his previous home and 
social life. If we could find out why young people 
decide to become teachers, we might solve this perplexing 
problem of the importance of the family surroundings of 
the teacher. If the reason is zeal for service, we may safely 
discount the apparent face value of this environmental 
factor ; if, however, teaching is selected as an easy and re- 
spectable way to make money, we may find it wise to con- 
sider the social and economic status of a teacher's parents 
one of the most important factors in determining the actual 
character of the work of our educational system. 

CHARA.CTERISTICS OF THE TEACHING POPULATION 

In order to gain an understanding of the general character 
of the teaching force of the country it will be necessary to 
acquire some adequate knowledge in regard to such matters 
as sex distribution, age, age at which teaching was begun, 
length of service, amount and kind of training received, and 
income. 

In the United States the teaching force is decidedly 

feminized, about four teachers in every five being women. 

In the large cities the proportion of women is 

United even larger, New York City having about nine 

states women to one man in its school system. In the 

about four , . 

teachers in high schools of the country (1910-11) about 
every five gyg ninths of the teachers were women. Ap- 
proximately nine tenths of the teaching staff of 
colleges and universities were men (1910) ; while in the 
public normal schools only about a third were men. 

In the various European countries the proportion of men 
is much larger than in the United States. Prussia, Austria, 
Norway, Sweden, and Switzerland all have a percentage of 



The Teacher 425 

men teachers higher than fifty ; while France, Great Britain, 
and Italy have a proportion of more than a fom'th. Con- 
ditions in the secondary schools show an even 
greater predominance of men. In the Prussian countries 
secondary schools, for example, a woman teacher ^f^® * 
is almost as rare as a man kindergarten teacher centage of 
in this country. Even in the higher schools for ™®^ 

teachers 

girls there is a very large number of men 
teachers. As for the universities, women have gained the 
right of admission so recently that they can hardly as- 
pire to teaching positions. The foregoing statements may 
have to be modified greatly on account of the results of the 
present war; but no data are now at hand for a revised 
estimate. 

The sex of teachers is of great importance as a factor in 
determining the economic status of the profession, — • if 
such it may be called. Historically the chief g^^^^ 
reason for the rise of the woman teacher was the teachers is 
rapid expansion of the public school system with ^"^^^^ctor 
the consequent need of a larger number of teachers in determin- 
and the attendant inability or unwillingness to JJJfnic^tatus 
pay adequate salaries. The supply of women of the pro- 
candidates and their willingness to work for a Session 
very small income naturally led to the overwhelming 
feminization of the elementary school. 

This situation does not call into question the ability of 
the women who are engaged in teaching. It does, however, 
create a problem in regard to the desirabihty of having a 
greater number of men in the elementary school. Under 
the present circumstances it may easily happen that a child 
may pass through the entire eight grade course without 
coming under the instruction of a man teacher or even the 
supervision of a man principal. While this is generally 
regarded as an unfortunate situation there is at present no 
positive evidence, based upon scientific investigation, to 



426 The School as a Social Institution 

show that the results are actually bad. Much opinion has 
been expressed on both sides of the question; but the net 
result of it all is to emphasize the fact that opinion is but 
opinion, not definitely established truth. 

If public opinion shall ever reach a condition in which 
there is manifest an intense conviction that the good of the 
elementary school system demands a greater percentage of 
men, the actual presence of the " monopolizing woman 
teacher " — as she is called by Bardeen ^ — together with 
the fact that women have generally been willing to work for 
lower salaries than are needed to attract men in large num- 
bers will serve to make it exceedingly difficult for school 
authorities to satisfy public demand. Even though it 
may seem sordid, it will be necessary to make the ma- 
terial rewards of teaching as attractive to young men as 
are those of various other kinds of work which they may 
enter. Whether or not this will mean a corresponding 
increase in the salaries paid women is a doubtful matter. 

The age distribution of teachers offers another example 
of the great difference between the typical modern teacher 
Youth ^^^ ^^^ ^^^ ^^ P^^^ generations. Once the 

rather than teacher was a mature man, now a young woman, 
a^character- Coffman f ound that the teachers who came within 
istic of the his investigation ranged from seventeen to seventy- 
teac er ^^^ years of age in the case of men, from seven- 

teen to sixty-six in the case of women. More than half the 
men (52.9 per cent) were under the age of thirty ; while al- 
most three fourths (73.8 per cent) of the women were 
under that age. " Every third man and every second 
woman is under twenty-five." Comparing country, town, 
and city in the matter of age of teachers Coffman found 
that there is an increase in age in the order named. The 
median age of men in all cases exceeds that of women. 

In view of the youthfulness of teachers in general it is 

1 The Monopolizing Woman Teacher, Educational Review, XLIII : 17-40. 



The Teacher 427 

interesting to learn at what age the average individual enters 
the profession. Fifty per cent of the men teachers began 
between the ages of 19.89 and 21.8 years, some beginning 
as early as fifteen and others as late as thirty-eight. Fifty 
per cent of the women in Coff man's study began between 
the ages of 18.22 and 20.54 years, the extremes being fourteen 
and forty-five. The median age of beginning is just a half 
year less for women than for men, — 19.38 and 19.88 re- 
spectively. It is thus to be seen that the teaching force is 
extremely young. 

One of the most important problems in making teaching 
a real profession is causing it to be considered a hfe work, 
a permanent occupation. In regard to the length ^j^g i^^^^ 
of service, Coffman found that the median num- of service 
ber of years in service was seven for men and four ^^ ^^°^ 
for women ; that fifty per cent of the men came within the 
limits of three and fourteen while an equal number of the 
women came between the extremes of one and nine. In 
high schools the median is a year higher for men and two 
years higher for women than for public schools in general. 
" About five men and 1.5 women in a hundred have taught 
thirty years or more." Length of service for teachers in 
rural schools is much lower than in town and city. 

"The greater permanency of men in both towns and cities is no 
doubt due to the executive character of their work, and to the in- 
creased compensation that accompanies it. Women shift more 
rapidly from level to level, because teaching positions which they 
are qualified to fill are more numerous than administrative positions. 
Practically all the graded school positions hdve been preempted by 
women ; men still survive in public school work as ' managing ' 
or executive officers." (Op. dt., page 28.) 

The significance of the figures in the preceding paragraphs 
is startling when one considers their social bearings. If 
half the men teachers are under thirty years of age and 
half the women under twenty-five, if half the men have 



428 The School as a Social Institution 

taught fewer than seven years and half the women fewer 
than four, if permanency of service is relatively low, then 
The social ^^® possibility of making teaching a profession 
significance is very slight f or a very large percentage of those 
going facts ^^° *^^^ ^P ^^^ work at some time in their 
is not en- careers. Although the enthusiasm of youth may 
couraging compensate for the lack of experience, the rapid 
changing of the teaching force of the country is a constant 
menace to the highest degree of efficiency. 

The amount of training which teachers have had is quite 
disappointing. Coffman found that both men and women 

teachers have had zero to thirteen years of train- 
general have ing beyond the elementary school; while the 
little typical number is four for each group. Fifty per 

cent of the men have had two to five years and 
fifty per cent of the women have had three to five years, 
counting from the close of the elementary school course in all 
cases. In high schools Thorndike found the figures to be 
seven and eight for men and women' respectively. The re- 
lation of country,, town, and city which we saw in the 
matter of teaching experience is found also in training; 
country teachers have had least training and city teachers 
most. In the rural schools the women have had one year 
more than the men, a condition which is directly reversed 
in the city. " Three fifths of the men and two fifths of the 
women teachers in rural schools have had less training than 
that supplied by the ordinary four years' high school course." 
According to the Report of the United States Commissioner 
of Education (1915) one third of rural teachers " have Httle 
or no professional training for their duties." (Page 96.) 
Coffman says that " It is probably true that better men and 
better women teachers are selected by the towns than by 
the rural districts and still better are selected by the cities. 
This does not curtail the possibility of the able young man 
or woman rising from level to level; that is exactly what 



The Teacher 429 

happens in many cases. The representatives of the different 
levels present wide differences in professional spirit and in 
general culture. Teachers of sufficient native ability to rise 
are attracted in most cases to the cities ; but where ability 
is not sufficient, training is necessary. The problem of 
securing well-trained, skilled teachers clearly increases in 
magnitude as we move away from the centers of popu- 
lation to the homogeneous population of agricultural com- 
munities." (Op. cit., page 35.) 

If it is true in general as it was within the limits of Coff- 
man's investigation that less preparation is demanded of 
men than of women (except in cities), then it is increased 
evident that there is a special social demand for legal re- 
men in teaching. But the condition is discourag- ^n^d^to 
ing if it is considered from the point of view of true the disap- 
professional spirit on the part of the men; for a thrpooriy! 
low plane of selection can hardly be conducive to prepared 
securing the best talent. The fact that men ^^^'^ ^^ 
teachers have not had more adequate training may be 
considered as an indictment against them or against the 
social conditions which make it impossible or unnecessary 
for them to make better preparation for their work. Coff- 
man believes that " in the struggle for existence between 
men of three years' training and women of four for the 
same position men must inevitably go." This would be 
true if amount of preparation were the only consideration ; 
but as men teachers are abnormally few, it may well happen 
that the demand for the man may be strong enough to over- 
come the desire for an additional year of preparation. Where 
a legal standard of high school training as a minimum is 
established it is of course true that the matter of sex ceases 
to be a factor in determining the amount of training, both 
men and women being compelled to offer the minimum 
amount. In such a case the man of three years' preparation 
must disappear; for he will have to rise to the four-year 



430 The School as a Social Institution 

level or drop out of teaching. We have here a social prob- 
lem involving sex of teachers, amount of training, and com- 
pensation for work, all centering in the wiUingness of the 
State to make the work of teaching appeal with sufficient 
strength to those who give greatest promise of profiting 
most by training and giving most in return for such outlay 
as the State may make. 

Within the past decade various studies have been made 
to ascertain the amount and adequacy of teachers' salaries. 
Teachers' From these studies it is evident that there is a 
salaries, growing recognition of the fact that the State must 
bw^"^^^^ increase its efforts to make teaching service at- 
are on three 1;,ractive in a material way if it is to secure the 
comittT most desirable talent for that work. The general 
town, conditions as well as they can be presented in 

^ "*y figures are about as follows. The median salary 
for men is $489, for women $450 according to Coffman; 
while the average salaries according to compilations made 
by the United States Bureau of Education for 1910-11 were 
$542 and $420 for men and women respectively. Half the 
men receive annual salaries between $363 and $615 ; and a 
corresponding percentage of the women receive between $339 
and $561. 

Salaries in country, town, and city are on three different 
levels, the country representing the lowest. According 
to Coffman's figures men teachers in cities receive two and 
one half times as much as those in the country and one and 
one half times as much as those in towns. The differences 
in the case of women teachers are not as great, although 
they show the same tendencies. This means, generally 
speaking, that the country must take teachers who have 
little training, little experience, or little ability. Or it may 
mean that the rural districts are content to have such 
teachers and can consequently secure them at a low 
salary. 



The Teacher 431 

Some very significant relationships exist in regard to 
salary, experience, and training. For a few years 
the compensation increases with experience; after tionsWptof 
that time there is very little to be expected for salary, 
mere increase of experience. These hmits are six S^iSce^^ 
years for men and six or eight for women. " On 
the average five years of experience increases the salary 
of men by 1.5 times, ten years by 1.8 times, and 25 years 
by 1.9 times. On the average five years of experi- 
ence increases the salary of women by 1.3"^ times, years 
ten years by 1.4+ times, and 25 years by 1.8 experience 

,. //-M «. • X counts for 

times. (Coifman, op. at., page 43.) uttie in 

While it is true that the general tendency increasing 
shows little correlation between experience and 
salary after the first few years, it is also true that where 
schools have definite salary schedules an appreciable in- 
crease is likely to continue considerably beyond the six 
or eight years indicated by the general conditions. Even 
though the teacher's skill may not be improved very much 
by experience after the first few years, it is considered good 
public policy to continue the annual increases in salary 
well beyond this period, the chief reasons being that better 
talent will be attracted by a salary schedule which offers 
definite increases over a long period of years than by one 
which offers all in the first year or two, and that a premium 
on experience will tend to encourage the adoption of teach- 
ing as a permanent calling while also overcoming the evil 
of the annual disruption of the teaching force.^ 

The relationship between training and salary is rather 
peculiar in that the addition of high school training does 
not seem to make much difference in income. However, 
with the academic and professional training which comes 
after high school graduation there is a very noticeable re- 

» See Thorndike, The Teaching Staff of Secondary Schools in the United 
States Bureau of Education Bulletin, 1909, No. 4, page 41. 



432 The School as a Social Institution 

lationship between preparation and income. This may be 
due to the fact that training in itself is considered valu- 
„, . able ; or it may be due to the fact that the 

There is an ' , ^ 

obvious and teachers who push forward to receive such ad- 

direct reia- vanced training are those of more than ordinary 

tween zeal and ability. Coffman says, " Differences in 

preparation people are more responsible for differences in 
and salary . . 

salary than differences m training. While salary 

is at all times a selective agency it becomes intensively so 
beyond the fourth year of training. It seems probable that 
education counts more in salary in each year than experi- 
ence." (Op. cit., page 46.) 

Note. An excellent idea of the characteristics of the teaching popula- 
tion may be gained from Coffman's description of the typical teacher. 

" The typical American male public school teacher, assuming that he can 
be described in terms of the medians previously referred to, but remembering 
that a median is a point about which individuals vary and that our hypothet- 
ical individual is as likely to be below as above it, is twenty-nine years of 
age, having begun teaching when he was almost twenty years of age after he 
had received but three or four years of training beyond the elementary school. 
In the nine years elapsing between the age he began teaching and his present 
age, he has had seven years of experience and his salary at the present time 
is $489 a year. Both of his parents were living when he entered teaching and 
both spoke the English language. They had an annual income from their 
farm of $700 which they were compelled to use to support themselves and 
their four or five children. 

" His first experience as a teacher was secured in the rural schools, where he 
remained for two years at a salary of $300 a year. He found it customary 
for rural school teachers to have only three years of training beyond the 
elementary school, but in order to advance to a town position he had to get 
an additional year of training. He also found that in case he wished to be- 
come a city school teacher two more years of training or six in all beyond the 
elementary school were needed. 

" His salary increased rather regularly during the first six years of his experi- 
ence, or until he was about twenty-six years of age. After that he found 
that age and experience played a rather insignificant part in determining his 
salary, but that training still afforded him a powerful leverage. 

" The typical American female teacher is twenty-four years of age, having 
entered teaching in the early part of the nineteenth year, when she had re- 
ceived but four years of training beyond the elementary schools. Her salary 
at her present age is $485 a year. She is native born of native born parents 



The Teacher 433 

both of whom speak the English language. When she entered teaching both 
her parents were living and had an annual income of approximately $800 
which they were compelled to use to support themselves and their four or 
five children. The young woman early found the pressure both real and an- 
ticipated 'to earn her own way very heavy. As teaching was regarded as a 
highly respected calling and as the transfer from the school room as student 
to it as teacher was but a step, she decided upon teaching. 

" Her first experience as a teacher was gotten in the rural school where she 
remained but two years. If she went from there to a town school her 
promotion was based almost solely upon her experience, as no additional 
training was required by the officials of the town. If she desired to teach 
in a city school, she was compelled to secure at least one more year of train- 
ing in all, but each additional year of training she found increased her salary. 

" So far she has profited each year of her brief experience by having her 
salary increased and this will probably be true for the next two years should 
she find it necessary to remain in teaching that long." {Op. cit., pages 
80, 81.) 

The Preparation of the Teacher 

In the preceding section we have discussed the amount 
of training which the American teacher receives ; the topic 
to be considered here is the nature of that prepara- Historically 
tion. Historically it seems clear that the evolu- th^^ first 
tion of the idea of training teachers parallels the ieveiop- 
growth of democratic ideals in education. Early ment of the 
in the nineteenth century there was a general be- j^g teachers 
lief that the regeneration of society was possible represents 
through the dissemination of knowledge among ^q*^'^ 
the masses. The monitorial school seems to have knowledge 
furnished a striking means of making the education of the 
masses possible. As the monitors were but teachers in the 
state of apprenticeship, it is not incorrect to look upon the 
monitorial school as one of the early stages in the develop- 
ment of the idea of training teachers. 

During the same period there was in existence an in- 
stitution which found it possible to devote some attention 
to the work of preparing young men to teach, — the academy. 
As this institution was intellectual in its nature, it is not 
strange that in the preparation of teachers knowledge was 



434 The School as a Social Institution 

emphasized. Consequently we find that in the evolution of 
schools for the preparation of teachers, in academy and 
monitorial school alike, the most fundamental element was 
the knowledge of what to teach. 

The second stage in this process of evolution comes with 
the emphasis of methods of teaching, especially showing 
the influence of those theorists who make the 
second pupil the center of education and who demand 

stage that the processes of instruction shall be based 

Mnphasized ^Pon an understanding of his nature. Charac- 
teristic of this period are such educational shib- 
boleths as object lesson, five formal steps, apperception, 
correlation, self -activity, and problem method. 

As there have been from the beginning, three essential 

ideas in the training of teachers (knowledge of subject 

matter, method of teaching, and ideals of social 

Soci&I 

service is service), SO the next step in the evolution of 
now being teacher-training is an emphasis upon the idea that 
teaching is to be regarded fundamentally as a 
high form of social service. This is a stage upon' which we 
have already entered; although it is probably true that at 
the present time a large number of normal schools, if not 
the majority, are in the second stage. It is true, however, 
that in an increasing number of such institutions there is a 
serious effort to give prospective teachers not merely knowl- 
edge of subject matter and methods of teaching but also a 
comprehension of the social conditions and needs of the 
state and community in which they are to work. 

This is an especially promising tendency in its relation- 
ship to rural education. Where education is regarded as 

. . being based fundamentally upon the subject 

shown in matter and methods of instruction, there is little 

rural likelihood of any special adaptation of school 

work to particular social needs. The truth of 

this statement is shown by the fact that under such a con- 



The Teacher 435 

ception the rural school has always been a mere second rate 
imitator of the city school. Within recent years, however, 
there has developed the idea that the school must not merely 
represent American ideals in general but must also adapt 
itself to the particular needs of the community in which it 
exists. As a result of this idea there must come a better 
adaptation of subject matter to local conditions and a 
modification of method (based generally upon psychology 
alone) toward social as well as individual ends. 

For the present it would seem that the idea of preparing 
the rural teacher in such a way as to give due consideration 
to rural needs is proceeding faster than the prac- 
tice of fitting city teachers to understand and ing^schoois 
meet urban needs. A great many normal schools do not give 

1 • 1 • 1 1 • much atten- 

have courses m rural sociology, rural economics, tion to urban 
and rural methods, while few if any city training social 

ij. J.-1 iii-j. 1. conditions 

schools give particular attention to urban con- 
ditions and problems. It may be that in the city less de- 
pends upon the teacher and more upon superintendent and 
principal than in the country in adapting the school to local 
needs ; hence, there is less demand for emphasizing a broad 
social outlook and comprehension in the case of the city 
teacher. While such a view may account for the neglect of 
the study of urban conditions in the case of the city teacher, 
it may possibly be true that within the next few years the 
city will follow the lead of the country and supplement the 
present training in subject matter and methods with practical 
and theoretical courses in urban sociology. 

Most of the foregoing discussion applies to the Training of 
preparation of elementary rather than secondary school 
teachers. The high school, like the college, has teachers 

Jioc HOW 

long been under the delusion that all that is re- begun to 
quired in a teacher is academic preparation, a receive 
spell from which the former is now breaking. 
Thus the North Central Association of Colleges and 



436 The School as a Social Institution 

Secondary Schools has prescribed a minimum amount of 
professional training for teachers in the high schools of the 
association, — described as follows : — " The minimum 
attainment of teachers of academic subjects shall be 
equivalent to graduation from a college belonging to the 
North Central Association of Colleges and Secondary- 
Schools requiring the completion of a four-year course of 
study, or 120 semester hours in advance of a standard four- 
year high school course, and including at least 11 semester 
hours in education. This shall include special study of the 
subject matter and pedagogy of the subject to be taught." 
{Report of the United States Commissioner of Education, 
1915, 1 : 178.) 

It may thus be seen that in regard to the preparation of 
its teachers the high school is just rising to the second level. 
At present the consideration of the social significance and 
the social problems of the secondary school is generally 
regarded as belonging to the field of the administrator 
rather than to that of the teacher. 

Our discussion hitherto has merely assumed the fact of 
professional training of teachers without considering its 
character beyond the occasional assumption that it might 
be based upon a preparation equivalent to secondary educa- 
Characterof ^^^^- ^^ must be apparent, however, that the 
training is kind of training is in reality of greater importance 
important than mere amount. The discussion of the char- 
than acter of the teacher's preparation must be based 

amoun upon three assumptions : that the teacher is to 

be properly qualified in respect to the subject matter which 
is to be taught ; that some mastery of the technique of 
instruction shall be gained ; and that there shall be added 
to these two important matters a third, proper under- 
standing of the social significance of the work of teaching 
together with some knowledge of the social conditions of 
the state and community in which the work is to be done. 



The Teacher 437 

There may be some objection to the idea that a teacher, 
especially in the elementary school, needs any special prep- 
aration of a social nature. It may be said that g^^^,;^ 
the best social service which he can render is to phases of 
teach well those subjects which lie in his field, "ll® "if 

, 1 , . educanon 

Ihe lawyer, we may hear, is supposed to be an must be 
important servant of society, and yet his pro- t^e^^'r*^ ^^ 
fessional preparation is not burdened with courses spective 
on the social background of law or even on the *®*<^^®'^ 
social significance of that profession. To this it may be 
proper to reply that so far as this profession is concerned, 
it is even now under suspicion because of this very fact that 
its members have not given more attention to its obligations 
to society in a larger sense than mere interpretation of the law. 
As for the teacher, a failure to comprehend some of the social 
significance of the process of education is to remain in the 
dark concerning one of the most vital aspects of that work. 
That this view is finding increasing favor is shown in the 
changes being made in the courses of study in normal schools. 
A few years ago it was possible to find an occasional course 
in sociology, probably of a very general nature and of a type 
resembling courses given in colleges and univer- _^ 

.... , p , • • Changes in 

sities. Now it IS becoming the fashion to require this direc- 

that the teacher shall acquire a fair understand- **°° "®^ 

^ • 1 1 • ^°^ notice- 

ing of those special phases of social life most nearly able 

related to the field in which he is to work. 

In addition to this change there is a corresponding modi- 
fication of some of the courses which may be considered 
traditional. In history of education, for example, there is 
now a clearly marked tendency to make the subject a sort 
of survey of education in its various social settings. Even 
psychology is being modified, so that the field is not the study 
of the isolated individual ; and in regard to methods of in- 
struction we now hear very much of the sociaUzed form of 
activity. 



438 The School as a Social Institution 

As an example of present tendencies in this matter it is 
perhaps sufficient to mention a school which, on account of 
its recent development, may be regarded as representing the 
best of present ideas in the training of teachers, — the new 
George Peabody College for Teachers at Nashville, Tenn. 
This institution, together with Vanderbilt University with 
which it cooperates, makes it possible for students to select 
from three courses in social science, nine in sociology, six in 
rural education. " In addition to the work ordinarily found 
in teachers' colleges, Peabody makes a special study of 
country life, which is provided in the Seaman A. Knapp 
School of Country Life." (Report of the United States 
Commissioner of Education, 1915, 1 : 170.) Preparation in 
subject matter is offered through courses in agriculture, 
applied biology, chemistry, classical languages, economics, 
English, geography, history, home economics, industrial 
arts (including manual training, mechanical drawing, and 
drawing and design), mathematics and astronomy, modern 
languages (including French, German, Italian, and Spanish), 
music, philosophy, physical education, and physics. For 
distinctly professional training there are offered thirty-one 
courses in elementary education, thirteen in health educa- 
tion, eleven in history and principles of education, fifteen 
in school administration, and ten in secondary education. 
It is evident, then, that definite consideration is given to 
academic preparation, to professional subjects in the narrow 
sense, implying specifically technique, and to the broader 
social aspects of education. 

A study of the catalogues of typical normal schools in 
Mere practically all the states of the Union reveals the 

knowledge fact that there is a general tendency to consider 
conditions *^^ three lines of preparation mentioned in the 
is not preceding paragraph. As far as the effect of 

su cient training in social subjects is concerned, however, 
it seems clear that a word of caution should be offered lest 



The Teacher 439 

too much be expected from the mere giving of knowl- 
edge. What is needed in the teacher is social spirit rather 
than bare knowledge of social conditions and problems. 
To expect that the mere presentation of such material will 
create the right spirit is to fall into an error similar to that 
of supposing that the dissemination of knowledge is sufficient 
to eradicate crime and destroy poverty. 

Here again we are brought back to the fundamental im- 
portance of the teacher ; in this case the conception magnifies 
the value of the one who teaches those who are to be teachers. 
It is more likely to be the personality of teachers in normal 
schools than the mere subject matter which will inspire 
students (prospective teachers) with zeal to serve faithfully 
and intelligently as social workers. 

This completes, then, our cursory survey of the main facts 
in the training of teachers, a survey in which we have seen 
that mastery of subject matter, training in theory and 
technique of teaching, some insight into social conditions 
and problems, all made living by the right kind of teachers, 
are the great essentials. 

The Means of Attracting the Most Desirable Talent 

The perfectly obvious idea that some young people will 
become better teachers than others does not seem to have 
received very much recognition in the adminis- 
tration of the agencies for the training of those ^j^^ persons 
who wish to enter the profession. In fact the to be trained 
general supposition seems to be that any human portant, ai- 
being animated by a desire to teach, possessed of though 

1.1 , neglected, 

enough earnestness and perseverance to accom- natter 
plish the work necessary to obtain a license, is there- 
by duly qualified to become a teacher, — if he can secure a 
position. It is true that normal schools, training schools, 
and teachers' examinations do eliminate some of those who 
wish to make their way into the profession ; but the num- 



440 The School as a Social Institution 

ber is few and the methods of sifting out are far from 
perfect. 

It is just as essential to the good of society that the best 
How can the Possible talent be chosen as it is that the candi- 
most dates for teaching be given the best possible 

young ^ training. The particular question to be con- 
people be sidered here is, What rewards, tangible or in- 
fnto^he tangible, can be offered to attract into the work of 
work of teaching those young people who are by natural 
teac g? endowment most likely to find the field perma- 
nently inviting and most capable of rendering highly effi- 
cient service? 

The first idea that presents itself in a world in which men 
and women must struggle for the material means of existence 
is that there should be offered tangible rew^ards in 
salary i^an ^^^ form of income, present or deferred, large 
obvious enough to make teaching at least as attractive in a 
StmcUon material way as are other vocations which are 
open to young people. If, for example, it seems 
desirable to attract a larger number of young men into the 
field of teaching, it seems clear that the least the state can 
do is to make it possible for the young man to receive an 
income as large as he would if he were to become a clerk, a 
bookkeeper, a brick layer, or a sheep herder. In view of 
the high standards required for entrance into the profession it 
may be necessary to meet the competition of the commercial 
and industrial world by offering appreciably larger salaries.^ 

The effect of offering relatively low salaries while setting 
up high standards is seen in the conditions which prevail 
in the elementary schools of New York City. There the 
salary schedule seems to be based upon the amounts neces- 

1 For a comparison of the annual wages of elementary teachers and arti- 
sans (plumbers, bricklayers, plasterers, painters, carpenters, molders, and 
machinists) in five cities, see Jessup, The Teaching Staff, Cleveland Educa- 
tional Survey, page 31. 



The Teacher 44 X 

sary to secure an adequate number of women teachers. The 
result IS that the number of young men who offer themselves 
as candidates for the license to teach is exceedingly small 
Other factors are undoubtedly involved; but the total 
effect (m which comparatively low income is certainly 
important) is that only about ten per cent of the candidates 
are men. 

It is not to be supposed that mere salary is sufficient to 
attract the highest quahty of talent into the work of teach- 
ing. On the other hand, it must not be inferred that salary 
has httle or nothing to do with the problem. It seems to 
be a generally accepted principle that the ultimate result 
of giving hberal rewards for services required is one of the 
surest ways of securing high quality of work. This cer- 
tainly apphes in the business world. There is at least a 
faint suspicion that it is apphcable to a work as unworldly 
as that of the Church. Why has the country church been 
compelled to suffer from the labors of poorly equipped pastors ? 
Undoubtedly one of the reasons is that it has seldom paid 
enough to secure the services of a man of talent and adequate 
preparation. The same thing may be said of the country 
school. In cities it is to be feared that the obvious attrac- 
tions of other lines of work may interfere greatly with the 
process of drawing young people of high ability into the 
work of teaching. 

The foregoing discussion has had reference chiefly if not 
solely to teachers' salaries. To such tangible reward may 
be added the hope of a pension ; since any pen- 
sion provided by city or state must serve to make ^r^dso be 
the value of a stated salary seem proportionately used for the 
greater. If, however, a sufficient amount is de- ^^™® 
ducted from the face of the salary to provide an ^*^^°^® 
income in the form of an annuity after a certain term, such 
a " pension " can hardly be considered an addition to the 
income of the teacher; it is merely compulsory insurance 



442 The School as a Social Institution 

against age. If the State paid teachers adequate salaries, 
such provision for the years that come after the period of 
profitable service might not be as imperative as it is under 
the present condition of relatively low salaries. 

Shall the pension be regarded as charity to the deserving 
poor, as deferred payment of salary previously earned and 
not received, or as a token of the appreciation of a grateful 
State? From the point of view of the -State these questions 
matter little. The really important question is, Does a 
pension system for teachers tend to attract and hold good 
material, thus increasing the efl&ciency of the school system? 
To this may be added a further question, Does the prospect 
of a more or less adequate pension have any appreciable 
influence in freeing teachers of cares which are likely to 
interfere with the effectiveness of their work? The answers 
to these questions seem obvious. 

In regard to the whole matter of tangible rewards of 
teaching it may be said that there has almost always been 
Teachers ^ tendency on the part of the State to take ad- 
as a class, vantage of the teacher. From times immemorial 
little to°°^ there has been a feeling that the more worthy 
force society the teacher the less likely he is to give thought to 
ad^uate ^^'^•'^ ^ sordid matter as money. While this an- 
compensa- cient superstition has lost some of its former 
^°^ strength, it is still true that teachers as a class 

are likely to find systematic campaigning for increased 
salaries repulsive. Social service rather than personal 
gain is continually inculcated as a fundamental in the 
teacher's ethics. Only a sense of shameful injustice is 
Ukely to arouse the teachers of a city or state to active 
work in their own economic interests. For this reason it 
seems especially wise and necessary for the State to strive 
with scrupulous care to provide for the material well-being 
of the teaching force. Failure to do this makes the work 
unattractive to young people who are about to choose a life 



The Teacher 443 

work and has the further effect of decreasing the efficiency 
of those already engaged by causing discontent, unrest, and 
resentment, all of which interfere with good work. 

In this discussion we have regarded the State and the 
teaching force as units; but it must be remembered that 
while every phase of human activity is competing for the 
best talent in a general way, there is also competition for 
good teachers between city and country, between city and 
city, between district and district. The community that 
is anxious to secure the best teachers finds it necessary to 
offer obvious tangible advantages. As an illustration of 
this idea may be cited Jessup's advice to the city of Cleve- 
land in his report on The Teaching Staff. He says, " Ed- 
ucation is a necessity, not a luxury. If it is to be adequate 
in quality, it must be paid for at rates which are in the long 
run fixed by salaries paid in other cities and in other forms 
of employment. The funds available in Cleveland are not 
adequate to pay such salaries as are now being received by 
teachers elsewhere. The first step in remedying the situa- 
tion is to economize in other expenditures. This process 
has already been carried about as far as is wise. The next 
step is for the Board of Education to present these needs 
to the public in so convincing a manner that they will in- 
sist on their representatives in the state legislature changing 
the laws so that the Board can secure adequate funds to 
purchase the teaching services that are imperative necessi- 
ties in a modern educational system." (Page 38.) 

The tangible rewards of teaching must be of such a nature 
that this important work shall not be placed at a serious 
disadvantage in comparison with other fields of en- summary 
deavor which are open to young people of equal of tangible 
talents and equal preparation. Salaries and ^^""^ ^ 
pensions may both be used to make teaching attractive 
in a material way, the latter being considered as much a part 
of the just payment of what is due the worker as the former. 



444 The School as a Social Institution 

Communities which desire to improve the quality of their 
teaching forces find in adequate salary schedules and pension 
systems the most obvious methods of accompHshing that 
result. 

Not all the rewards of teaching are as tangible as those 
which have been mentioned ; but it may well be 
esteem is true that forces other than economic have much 
an intan- ^o do with attracting workers into the field of 
which may education. From the very earliest times the 
operate to teacher has been accorded the highest degree 
able persons of respect, whether " in Naishapur or Babylon." 
into the pro- << Master " or some similar title has always been 
the outward sign of the degree of reverence shown. 

An exception must be made in the case of the elementary 
teacher, — in ages past a person of very meager attain- 
Eiementary ^^^nts and often of doubtful respectabihty. With 
teaching the evolution of modern democracy and the 
aiways*been ©mphasis upon universal elementary education, 
held in high however, the status of the teacher of young chil- 
esteem ^j^qh has been greatly elevated in pubhc esteem. 

It may be unfortunate that not all kinds of useful work 
share alike in the esteem of the pubhc; but it is the 
happy lot of the teaching profession to hold a high place 
in that esteem. It is in this way that society rewards the 
doers of a most necessary social work, thus providing a power- 
ful although intangible means of recompensing a service which 
cannot be paid for in money. After ages of contempt the 
elementary teacher has risen to a degree of respectability 
which is now deemed one of the rewards of teaching. 

In addition to the position which the teacher, whether in 
A certain kindergarten, elementary school, high school, or 
av^abie^ college, holds in the regard of the public must 
leisure be mentioned the comparatively large amount 

teac^g ^^ tirae which is free from definitely prescribed 
attractive work. This arrangement makes it possible for 



The Teacher 445 

the ambitious and conscientious teacher to enlarge the 
range of his work in two ways. In the first place it 
is possible and indeed necessary for the teacher to devote 
a large amount of effort to planning and preparing for 
more effective service in the schoolroom. Such prepara- 
tion includes not merely the materials and technique of 
instruction but also the entire range of possibility in all 
lines of personal and professional development. It may 
include anything from selecting words for to-morrow's spell- 
ing lesson to a course of training in a university or a trip 
around the world. In the second place, the time which the 
teacher has outside regular school hours makes it possible 
to engage in various kinds of social service to the mutual 
advantage of teacher and community. It may seem that 
such a condition means merely rewarding work with the 
opportunity for more work ; and this is indeed true. It is 
in fact one of the most attractive features of the teacher's 
lot; for the true teacher wishes nothing better than in- 
creased opportunity to be of influence in the community. 
Such a situation is in itself a very high form of reward to 
the socially minded teacher. To all others it is a tempta- 
tion to selfishness. 

The Relation of the Teacher to the School System 

The fundamental fact in the relationship of the pubhc 

school teacher to the system of which he is a part is that 

he is not the employee of the superintendent of The teacher 

schools, the principal, or of the board of educa- »s primarily 
' tr r- ? f T CI * servant of 

tion, but is with them the servant of the State, the state; 

The relationship is not personal but professional. ^"* J\^"^* 

Far from meaning that the teacher is a free lance moniousiy 

in the educational field, such a situation demands ^i* various 

supervising 

that he shall strive for the very highest degree ot and control- 
cooperation with all others in the system. This i^g officials 
single idea of earnest cooperation in an important pubhc 



446 The School as a Social Institution 

service is the basis of all the teacher's professional rela- 
tionships. 

The candidate's entrance into the system begins with the 
rather trying encounter with the officials who have the 
Relation to ^^^^ ^^ examining and appointing. We are at 
the appoint- present in a process of evolution from the state 
shouiTbe ^^ which this work of selection is based upon 
based upon personal grounds to that higher level upon which 
™^" professional fitness rather than personal or politi- 

cal influence is the most important factor. This process 
has made greatest progress in the large cities ; but the 
smaller cities and even the country districts must move 
in the same direction. Indeed general progress in this 
matter is one of the characteristics of our times. It is no 
longer considered ethical for a teacher to secure appointment 
upon such grounds as church membership, poHtical affilia- 
tions, or family relationships. All that has been said in 
regard to appointment appHes equally to tenure and pro- 
motion. 

Perhaps the teacher's most difficult relationship is that 
which he has with administrative and supervisory officers. 
Cooperation "^^^ often all the superintendent or principal ex- 
is of utmost pects of the teacher is impHcit confidence and 
importance absolute obedience. Where the teachers are in- 
experienced or untrained and the supervisory officer is the 
only expert in educational matters, it may be that such a 
type of cooperation is all that can be expected ; but as the 
amount of professional training increases and the general 
permanence of tenure becomes better established it must 
also become more and more evident that teachers should 
be allowed greater freedom, that cooperation means oppor- 
tunity to suggest and advise rather than the mere obliga- 
tion to carry out instructions issued by a superior. In order 
to bring about the very desirable change from the old sys- 
tem, which is based upon the actual existence of a pre- 



The Teacher 447 

dominating number of inferior teachers, it is necessary that 
the teachers themselves show that they are worthy of a voice 
in the solution of school problems. 

At the present time there is no way by which teachers 
as a class can make their experience count for much in the 
matter of school administration. Through their 
various organizations (too often dominated by '^^^ teacher 
administrative officers), it is true that they can 



a voice m 



offer advice or make protest ; but as both protest administra- 
and advice are generally unsought, the effect of 
the teacher's voice is generally shght. 

A few years ago the Board of Education of New York 
City, at the suggestion of its president, Thomas W. Churchill, 
decided to provide for an unofficial body of 
teacher-advisers in educational matters. This jeachers' 
Teachers' Council, composed of representatives CouncU of 
of the teachers in elementary, high, and training ^j^^ ^°^^ 
schools as well as principals and heads of depart- 
ments, has undertaken to give the Board of Education the 
benefit of the opinion of those who are the real educators. 
The Council has investigated such matters as courses of 
study, plans for better discipline of pupils, the reduction of 
clerical work demanded of teachers, the enforcement of the 
compulsory attendance law, the promotion of pupils, and 
the rating of teachers. While the Board of Education is 
under no obligation to follow the advice of the teachers as 
expressed in the findings of the Council, the mere existence 
of such a body is in itself of considerable value as a means 
of making teachers " regular purveyors of good to the entire 
system rather than timid protestors in a far corner." 

There is in the creation of such a council of teachers as 
this a suggestion for state educational systems. Some kind 
of arrangement should be provided to make it evident to 
teachers that they need not be afraid to offer advice. In- 
deed more than this should be done ; administrative boards 



448 The School as a Social Institution 

should strive to create the feeling and belief that they wish 
and expect the counsel of those who are actually engaged 
in the work of instruction. 

Such a magnifying of the importance of the teacher 
should be accompanied by an emphasis upon the proper 

relationship between teacher and superior in the 
princi/ai° educational hierarchy. All administrative mat- 
and super- ters in which the teacher has an interest directly 
necess^y *^ °^ indirectly should be scrupulously conducted 

through the proper channels. Loyalty to prin- 
cipal or superintendent is a virtue which must accompany 
the function of offering counsel in regard to school affairs. 
Mere educational anarchy would result if teachers were to 
construe a recognition of the wisdom of consulting them in 
school matters as an invitation to take matters into their 
own hands and to act upon their individual initiative in 
such matters as are the proper duties of administrative 
officers. Reference is here made to such functions as the 
making and administering of the course of study, the choice 
of textbooks, the purchase of school aids and supplies, the 
selection and assignment of teachers. 

The relation of the teacher to his fellow teachers is one 
which has in it very great possibilities for happiness or 

misery. If the group working in a single build- 
refations^"^ ing is large, mere human nature is sufficient cause 
with fellow for more or less friction, and with it dissatisfac- 
shouid^be ^^^^ ^^^ unrest. For this reason it is necessary 
based upon that teachers learn to associate upon a profes- 
fdeajr^°°^ sional plane. All merely instinctive likes and 

dislikes must come to be subordinate to profes- 
sional ideals of courtesy and consideration. The common 
social service which all teachers are striving to render should 
be a sufficient basis for that friendly cooperation and associa- 
tion which must exist in the successful school. 

In those sections where there are a great number of one- 



The Teacher 449 

room schools, some of which are more desirable than others, 
there is a natural tendency for teachers to desire those places 
which have most attractive surroundings and pay best 
salaries. In order that rivalry among teachers may not 
become injurious to the work of education it is necessary 
to formulate and observe some such principle of profes- 
sional ethics as the following : " Unless a vacancy actually 
exists no teacher should make application for the place. 
Furthermore in any rivalry for place, the only argument 
which any teacher should use is that of professional fitness ; 
and no candidate for a position should do more than present 
his own quahfications, no word derogatory to another can- 
didate being proper." 

To round out this discussion of the teacher's relationships 
within the school system, a discussion which has already 

referred to appointing officers, supervisory and _ . . 
, . . . . 1 . r 11 XI Relation to 

administrative superiors, and to fellow teachers, pupus 
it would be necessary to include a consideration fi^ouid be 

... ., based upon 

of the teacher's relationship with his pupils ; but common 

as such a treatment would virtually include a aims and 

confidence 
treatise on school management it can hardly be 

presented here. However, it may be said that in this country 
the idea of the teacher as a sort of mihtary dictator is en- 
tirely outworn ; although we do not attain the Montessori 
ideal of the teacher as observer and scientific student of 
education, and it hardly seems that our progress is in the 
direction of effacement of the teacher. With respect to his 
pupils the teacher has almost always to strive against the 
ancient tradition that he is their natural enemy. Happy 
is he who can instill in the minds of his pupils the behef 
that he is helper and friend, that their interests are his, 
that differences in age and position are no insurmountable 
barrier to friendship and cooperation. 



450 The School as a Social Institution 



Relation of the Teacher to the Community 

The importance of the teaching profession demands that 
its representatives consider themselves more than mere 

purveyors of knowledge to children : the teacher 
Is more'thMi ^^ ^ social servant in a deeper sense than is true of 
a purveyor any other profession with the possible exception 
edge °^ ^^ ^^® ministry. Aside from this general fact 

no very exphcit statement can be made concern- 
ing the relation of the teacher to the community ; whatever 
that may be depends upon the teacher and the community, 
two decidedly variable quantities. 

The first consideration is that the teacher's chief business 
in the community is to serve well in his capacity in the 

school. No amount of outside activity can atone 
duty to the ^^^ carelessness, neglect, or incompetence there, 
community Furthermore, nothing which the teacher under- 
schooiroom ^^^^s as a member of society, whether as leader 

or mere participant, should be of such a nature 
as to interfere with his highest success in his educational 
work. If teaching in Sunday School, acting as organizer 
of sports or social activities, engaging actively in politics, 
serving on committees to promote local interests, or assum- 
ing any other social or civic burden decreases his effective- 
ness as teacher, the outside activities should be curtailed. 

As previously suggested, a great deal depends upon the 
teacher's individual ability and training, and upon local 

conditions and needs. It is naturally to be sup- 
tionki^com- PO^ed that the teacher of some special subject 
munity such as agriculture will be able to exert an influence 

aiso^aduty ^P^^ the community in a way that is broader 

than mere classroom activities. He is specially 
trained for such work and is supposed to have more than 
ordinary abiHty in his particular field. If he cannot exert 
a certain amount of influence outside the classroom, the 



The Teacher 451 

probability is that he cannot do very good work even there. 
Far from meaning that the teacher is to be a professional 
uplifter, an interferer in the affairs of other people, a self- 
constituted adviser of the community, this situation means 
that he is to fit himself into the conditions of his com- 
munity and through his superior training work unostenta- 
tiously for development in the field which is pecuHarly his. 

The elementary teacher with no special school subject 
may also find fields of social usefulness outside the school- 
room. At the very least, he should avoid being a recluse. 
Normal participation in the affairs of the community is the 
least that can be expected of him. How far beyond mere 
participation toward real leadership he can go depends upon 
circumstances too variable to permit generaHzation. For 
the sake of his profession, however, the teacher should aspire 
to leadership. 

The Outlook 

In the present as in the past the teaching profession is 
composed of a body of persons whose long and careful 
training has raised them to a high level of attain- 
ment in subject matter with a certain amount now operat- 
of native and acquired ability in teaching. The ^°8 to 
development of modern elementary education has real teach- 
added a tremendous number of apprentice and i°8 profes- 
journeyman teachers who can hardly be said to 
deserve to be called members of a profession in their present 
state of development. To these must be added an indefinite 
number who look upon teaching as a temporary occupation, 
a stepping stone to something more desirable or a haven in 
which to await an expected opportunity to embark upon the 
sea of matrimony. The hope that the entire teaching force 
of this country will eventually be made a real and undis- 
puted profession depends upon the continuance of the past 
and present tendency to increase the amount of preparation 



452 The School as a Social Institution 

required. Eventually, it is to be hoped, the standards will 
be so high that no one can afford to spend the necessary 
time in training without a serious purpose of making teach- 
ing a hfe work, that young people who do not know what 
they wish to do may no longer find in teaching an occupation 
at which they can easily support themselves while they are 
discovering what field of endeavor is best suited to their 
tastes and talents. 

Whether the ultimate development of a profession of 
teaching which will include all teachers from kindergarten 
to university is possible depends upon the wilhngness of 
society to pay the price. It is futile to expect to keep the 
ranks filled while raising the level of preparation without 
increasing the tangible rewards at the same time. Pubhc 
interest in education seems to be increasing; the demands 
upon the schools are certainly becoming more pressing; 
there is a slowly growing wilhngness to make the teacher 
the economic equal of the industrial worker. For the future 
all this promises much. It is not too much to hope that in 
perhaps another quarter or half century all the forces now 
working to give society a real teaching profession will have 
accompHshed that desirable end. 

Summary 

Although the importance of the teacher has always been 
recognized theoretically, and although great schools and 
significant educational movements emphasize the same idea, 
there are conditions which often work to subordinate him 
to method and subject matter. This chapter considers the 
social forces and conditions which are the background of 
the teaching class and the social relationships which are of 
greatest importance to the profession. 

The teachers of this country are recruited chiefly from 
families of native American parentage ; but there is in 
some of the larger cities an apparently increasing number of 



The Teacher 453 

women teachers of foreign born parents. Generally the size 
of the family is large, as families are considered to-day, and 
the income is small. Hence, an economic force, the im- 
portance of which should not be overemphasized, compels 
many young people to choose teaching as an available and 
highly respectable means of gaining a livelihood. About 
eighty per cent of our teachers are women, — a fact which 
is important in determining the economic status of the pro- 
fession. Youth, rather than maturity, is a striking charac- 
teristic, which is paralleled by meagerness of training, of 
experience, and of income. 

In the evolution of teacher-training three different ideas 
have been stressed : (1) the importance of the knowledge 
to be presented ; (2) the importance of the method of pres- 
entation; (3) the necessity of emphasizing social ideals 
and a knowledge of social conditions. Within recent years 
there has been a growing tendency to emphasize the idea 
of the social bearings of the teacher's work and to add to 
courses in normal schools considerable material concerning 
society in general and the community in particular. Appar- 
ently attention is now being given more to meeting the 
peculiar social needs of rural education than to giving 
teachers a comprehension of urban conditions and problems. 

One of the most important questions concerning the 
composition of the teaching force is how to attract a high 
type of young people into the work. Hitherto training has 
received considerable attention ; but not much intelligence 
has been directed to the selection of the persons to be trained. 
Certain forces tend to lead young people into teaching or 
divert them into other kinds of work. The most important 
of these is that of income. Present conditions tend to give 
greater material rewards for ability and zeal in industrial 
and commercial fields than in the educational. Hence, it 
follows that unless there are other compensating features 
teaching must suffer in competition with other kinds of life 



454 The School as a Social Institution 

work. Among the numerous characteristics which make 
teaching attractive are the esteem in which the work is 
held and the amount of available leisure which may be used 
for personal and professional improvement and for social 
service. 

The teacher's relationship to the school system is based 
upon the fundamental fact that he is the servant not of 
any appointing person or board but of the State. Out of 
this grow the needs of emphasizing professional merit rather 
than personal relationships, of hearty cooperation with 
superiors and fellow teachers, of loyalty to superiors and 
to the cause of education, of harmonious relations with 
fellow t^eachers. In the community the teacher ought to be 
more than a mere purveyor of knowledge even though his 
first duty is to render effective service in the schoolroom. 
Community affairs offer a very attractive field for the exer- 
cise of ideals of service and capacity for leadership. 

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General Bibliography 459 

Dewey, John, Democracy and Education. 1916. Macmillan. 
$1.40. 

Dewey, John, Moral Principles in Education. 1909. Houghton. 
$.35. 

Dewey, John, School and Society. 1917. (Revised Edition.) Uni- 
versity of Chicago Press. $1.00. 

Dewey, John and Evelyn, Schools of To-morrow. 1915. Datton. 
$1.50. 

Dexter, E. G., A History of Education in the United States. 1904, 
Macmillan. $2.00. 

Dodge, R. E., and Kirchwey, C. B., Teaching Geography in Ele- 
mentary Schools. 1913. Rand McNally. $1.00. 

Dresslar, F. B., School Hygiene. 1914. Macmillan, $1.25. 

Duggan, S. p., a Student's History of Education. 1916, Apple- 
ton. $1.25. 

Dutton, S. T., Social Phases of Education. 1899. Macmillan. 
$1.25. 

Earhart, Lida B., Types of Teaching. 1915. Houghton. $1.25. 

Eggleston, Edward, The Transit of a Civilization. 1901. Apple- 
ton. $1.50. 

Eliot, Charles W., Education for Efficiency. 1909, Houghton. 
$.35. 

GiDDiNGS, F. H., Principles of Sociology. 1913, Macmillan, 
$3.00. 

Gillette, J. M., Vocational Education. 1910, American Book 
Co. $1.00. 

Graves, Frank P., History of Education. 1913. Macmillan. 
Three volumes at $1.10 each, 

Griggs, E. H., Moral Education. 1904. Huebsch. $1,60, 

GuLiCK, Luther H., and Ayres, L. P., Medical Inspection of 
Schools. 1908. The Survey Associates. $1.00. 

Hall, G. Stanley, Adolescence. 1904. Appleton. $7.50. 

Henderson, Ernest, Principles of Education. 1910. Macmil- 
lan. $1.75. 

HoAG, E. B., and Terman, L. M., Health Work in Schools. 1914. 
Houghton. $1.60. 

HoLLiNGwoRTH, H. L., Vocational Psychology. 1916. Appleton. 
$2.50. 

HoLLisTER, H. A., Administration of Education in a Democracy. 
1914. Scribners. $1.25. 

HoLLiSTER, H, A,, High School Administration. 1909. Heath. 
$1.50. 



460 General Bibliography 

HoLLiSTEE, H. A., High School and Class Management. 1915. 

Heath. $1.40. 
Holmes, Arthur, Principles of Character Making. 1913. Lip- 

pincott. $1.25. 
Jessup, W. a., Social Factors Affecting Special Supervision in the 

Public Schools of the United States. 1911. Teachers College 

(Columbia University) Contributions. $1.00. 
Jessup, W. A., The Teaching Staff. 1916. Cleveland Survey. 

$.25. 
Johnson, Henry, The Teaching of History. 1915. Macmillan. 

$1.40. 
Johnston, C. H., and others. The Modern High School. 1914. 

Scribners. $1.75. 
Ketes, C. H., Progress through the Grades of City Schools. 1911, 

Teachers College (Columbia University) Contributions. $1.00. 
KiLPATRiCK, W. H., The Montessori System Critically Examined. 

1914. Houghton. $.35. 
King, Irving, Education for Efficiency. 1915. Appleton. $1.50. 
King, Irving, Social Aspects of Education. 1912. Macmillan. 

$1.60. 
Leavitt, Frank M., and Brown, Edith, Prevocational Education 

in the Public School. 1915. Houghton. $1.25. 
Leonard, S. A., English Composition as a Social Problem. 1917. 

Houghton. $.70. 
Lutz, R. R., Wage Earning and Education. 1916. Cleveland 

Survey. $.50. 
MacCunn, J., The Making of Character. 1906. Macmillan. 

$1.25. 
McDonald, Robert A. F., Adjustment of School Organization to 

Various Population Groups. 1917. Teachers College (Co- 
lumbia University) Contributions. $1.50. 
McDougall, William, Social Psychology. 1914. Luce. $1.50. 
McMuRRY, Charles A., Conflicting Principles in Teaching. 1914. 

Houghton. $1.25. 
McMuRRT, Frank, Elementary School Standards. 1913. World 

Book Co. $1.50. 
Miller, H. A., The School and the Immigrant. 1916. Cleveland 

Survey. $.25. 
Monroe, Paul, Editor, Cyclopedia of Education. 1912. Macmil- 
lan. Set of five volumes, $25.00. 
Monroe, Paul, Editor, Principles of Secondary Education. 1915. 

Macmillan. $2.00. 



General Bibliography 461 

Monroe, Paul, A Text-book in the History of Education. 1905. 

Macmillan. $1.90. 
MoNTEssoRi, Maria, The Montessori Method. Translated by 

Anne E. George. 1912. F. A. Stokes. $2.00. 
Moore, E. C, What is Education? 1915. Ginn. $1.25. 
O'Shea, M. v.. Social Development and Education 1909. 

Houghton. $2.00. 
Palmer, G. H., Ethical and Moral Instruction in Schools. 1909. 

Houghton. $.35. 
Parker, S. C, Methods of Teaching in High Schools. 1915. Ginn. 

$1.50. 
Parker, S. C, A Textbook in the History of Modern Elementary 

Education. 1912. Ginn. $1.50. 
Parsons, Elsie Clews, Social Rule. 1916. Putnam. $1.00. 
Parsons, Frank, Choosing a Vocation. 1909. Houghton. $1.00. 
Perry, C. A., The Wider Use of the School Plant. 1910. Siurvey 

Associates. $1.25. 
Plato, The Republic. A very convenient translation is that of 

Davies and Vaughan (1852) published in the Golden Treasury 

Series by MacmiUan at $1.00. 
Puffer, J. A., Vocational Guidance. 1913. Rand, McNally. 

$1.25. 
Rapeer, L. W., Editor, Educational Hygiene. 1915. Scribner. 

$2.25. 
Ross, E. A., Social Control. 1901. Macmillan. $1.25. 
Ross, E. A., Social Psychology. 1908. Macmillan. $1.50. 
Rousseau, J. J., Emile. Translated by W. H. Payne. 1898. 

Appleton. $1.50. A complete edition, translated by Bar- 
bara Foxley, is published in Everyman's Library by Button 
• at $.70. 
RuGH, C. E., and others, Moral Training in the Public Schools. 

1907. Ginn. $1.50. 

Sachs, J., The American Secondary School and some of its Problems. 

1912. Macmillan. $1.10. 
Sadler, M. E., Editor, Moral Instruction and Training in Schools. 

1908. Longmans. Two volumes at $1.50 each. 

Sargent, Porter E., A Handbook of American Private Schools. 

1916. Sargent. $2.00. 
Scott, C. A., Social Education. 1908. Ginn. $1.50. 
Smith, F. W., The High School. 1916. Sturgis & Walton. $2.00. 
Smith, W. R., An Introduction to Educational Sociology. 1917. 

Houghton. $1.75. 



462 General Bibliography 

Snedden, David, Problems of Educational Adjustment. 1913. 
Houghton. $1.60. 

Snedden, David, The Problem of Vocational Education. 1910. 
Houghton. $.35. 

Spencer, Frank, Education of the Pueblo Child. 1899. Columbia 
Contributions to Education. $.75, paper. 

St-raye-r, G.D., The Teaching Process. 1911. Macmillan. $1.25. 

Strayer, G. D., and Thorndike, E. L., Educational Administra- 
tion. 1913. Macmillan. $2.00. 

SuzzALLO, Henry, The Rise of Local School Supervision in Massa- 
chusetts. 1906. Teachers College (Columbia University) 
Contributions. $1.00. 

Terman, L. M., The Hygiene of the School Child. 1914. Houghton. 
$1.65. 

Thomas, W\ I., Source Book for Social Origins. 1909. University 
of Chicago Press. $2.75. 

Updegraff, Harlan, The Origin of the Moving School in Massa- 
chusetts. 1906. Teachers CoUege (Columbia University) 
Contributions. $1.50. 

Van Denburg, J. K., Causes of Elimination of Students in Public 
Secondary Schools of New York City. 1911. Teachers Col- 
lege (Columbia University) Contributions. $1.50. 

Vincent, G. E., The Social Mind and Education. 1897. Macmil- 
lan. $1.25. 

Ward, E. J., and others. The Social Center. 1913. Appleton. 
$1.50. 

Weaver, E. W., Profitable Vocations for Girls. 1915. Barnes. 
$.80. 

Weaver, E. W., and Byler, J. F., Profitable Vocations for Boys. 
1915. Barnes. $1.00. 

Whitney, W. T., The Socialized Recitation. 1915. Barnes. $.60. 

Wilson, H. B. and G. M., Motivation of School Work. 1916. 
Houghton. $1.35. 

REPORTS, PAPERS, AND PROCEEDINGS 

Annals of American Academy of Pohtical and Social Science. 

Philadelphia. 
American School Hygiene Association. Proceedings. 
General Education Board. Occasional Papers. 61 Broadway, 

New York City. 
International Union of Ethical Societies. Report of 1912. London. 



General Bibliography 463 

National Association of Vocational Guidance. Proceedings. 

National Education Association. Journal and Proceedings. 

National Society for the Study of Education. Yearbooks. Uni- 
versity of Chicago Press. 

New York City Superintendent's Reports. 

New York State Bureau of Labor. Reports. Albany. 

Public Education Association of New York City. Papers. 

United States Bureau of Education. Bulletins and Reports. 

United States Bureau of Naturalization. Course of Study iu 
Citizenship. 

United States Commissioner of Labor. Report for 1910. 



INDEX 



{References are to pages.) 



Academy, the, 433. 
Acceleration, 151, 165 ff. 
Adjustment, and the course of study, 

341 ; to changing needs, 324. 
Adults, education of, 225, 232. 
Age, a factor in elimination, 161. 
Agriculture, 378. 
Aim, educational, a factor in method, 

392. 
Aim of education, Greek, 7. 
American Association of University 

Professors, 69. 
Americanism, 48. 
American school, the, 21 ff. 
American states, control in, 305. 
Antin, Mary, 61, 122. 
Apprenticeship system, breaking 

down of, 374. 
Aristocratic idea of society, 326. 
Aristotle, 406. 

Arithmetic. See Mathematics. 
Athenian education, 7 ff., 53, 198. 
Ayres, L. P., 129, 131, 158, 160. 

Bacon, Francis, 104. 
Bagley, W. C, 398. 
Baptist Church (North), schools of, 

291. 
Bardeen, C. W., 426. 
Batavia system, 410. 
Bateman, W. G., 208. 
Betts, G. H., 1, 320, 336. 
Bible, the, 65, 350. 
Blan, Louis, 152. 
Bloomfield, Meyer, 169, 180. 
Bobbitt, Franklin, 133, 371. 
Bonser, F. G., 178. 
Broad content of education, 339. 
Bureaucracy, 262. 
Burnham, W. H., 130. 
Bury, J. B., 46. 



Business, influence upon school, 73 ff. 
Butler, N. M., 101, 109. 

Carus, Paul, 93. 

Catechetical school, 14. 

Cathedral school, 15. 

Centralization, advantages of, 259 
ff. ; disadvantages of, 261 ff. ; 
tendency toward, 80. 

Character-building, 317. 

Chinese, the, 3 ff. 

Churchill, Thomas W., 447. 

Church, the, as social center, 228 ; 
relation to the school, 64 ff. ; the 
medieval, 198. 

Church schools, 13 ff. ; rate of in- 
crease of, 292. 

Citizenship, preparation for, 10. 

City training schools, 435. 

Civic education, 8, 53. 

Civil government, the, and the school, 
77 ff. 

Classes of population, shifting of, 116. 

Class lines, 224; effect of, 112. 

Class schools, effect of, 113. 

Cleveland, Ohio, 443. 

Clinton, De Witt, 24. 

Coffman, L. D., 421 ff. 

College entrance, 279. 

Commercialism, 299. 

Communication, influence of, 91 ff. ; 
need of, 358. 

Community center, the, 221 ff. ; 
equipment of, 246 ff. ; growth of 
the movement, 231 ff. ; need of, 
222 ff. ; obstacles to development 
of, 227. 

Conservatism, 102, 325. 

Control, in a democracy, 199 ff. ; in- 
stinctive basis of, 195 ; kinds of, 
192 ; the school as a means of, 30, 



465 



466 



Index 



{References are to pages.) 



191 ff. ; through education, his- 
torical types of, 196 ff. 

Control of education, central or local, 
79 ff. ; direct, 78; indirect, 77; 
proper relation of central and local, 
263 ; state vs. local, 257. 

Cook, William A., 147. 

Cooperation, 40 ff., 243, 274, 446. 

Cooperative instinct, relation to 
method, 390. 

Correspondence schools, 294. 

Course of study, Chapters XII and 
XIII ; and character-building, 317 ; 
and social adjustment, 321 ; and 
social consciousness, 320 ; and tra- 
dition, 311; as environment, 313; 
as stimulus to activity, 315 ; broad- 
ening experience through, 315 ; 
function of, 312 ff. ; modification of, 
310; moral significance of, 206 ff. 

Criticism, helpfid to the school, 29. 

Cubberley, E. P., 27, 42, 59, 260, 263, 
270. 

Cultural education, meaning of, 373. 

Culture epoch theory, 328 ff. 

Culture, transmission of, 100 ff. 

Curriculum, 28, 66 ; colonial period 
(American), 22 ; nature of, 206 ff. ; 
of Greek music school, 9. (See 
also Course of Study.) 

Davidson, Thomas, 7. 
Defectives, influence of, 89. 
Delinquents, influence of, 89. 
Democracy, control in a, 199 ff. ; 

meaning of, 199 ; problems of, 327. 
Denmark, 249. 

Denominational control of colleges, 69. 
Denominational lines, relation of 

school to, 117. 
Dewey, John, 50, 221, 378. 
Disciplinary conception, the, 325 ff. 
Discipline, 215. 

District system, reorganization of, 269. 
Dramatization, 415. 
Dresslar, F. B., 142. 
Duty, sense of, 52. 

Education, value of, 23. 
Elimination, 151, 158 ff., 279. 



Eliot, Charles W., 356. 

Emulation, relation to method, 391. 

England, 304. 

Enrichment of school life, 281. 

Ethics, value of a formal course in, 

211. 
Evolution of the school, 347. 
Experimentation in education, 297. 
Extension activities, 242 ; control of, 

242. 

Feeding school children, 138 ff. 
Feminization of teaching, 424. 
Fiske, John, 1. 
Flexibility in school organization, 

166. 
Foreign element, influence of, 91. 
Foreign parentage and elimination, 

159. 
Formalism, 54 ; its danger in study 

of literature, 355. 
France, 303, 348. 
Freedom, 48 ff., 274, 275, 402. 
Free schools, 27. 
Froebel, 369, 386. 

Garth, Thomas, 364. 

Gary plan, the, 68, 164, 280 ff., 377. 

Geography, a means of interpreting 

human progress, 371 ; modification 

of by social interpretation, 370. 
Geography and natural science, 368 

ff. ; function of, 368. 
George Peabody College for 

Teachers, 438. 
German states, 303, 348. 
GUd schools, 16. 
Grammar, 358. 
Grammar school, Roman, 12. 
Greek, 343. 
Greek education, 197. 
Greek schools, 7 ff. 
Gregariousness, 389. 
Guidance, 279 ; necessity of, 171 ; 

school as a means of, 169 ff. 
Gymnasium, the Greek, 9. 

Habit and the course of study, 340. 
Harmonization of ideas in selecting 
course of study, 331. 



Index 



467 



(References are to pages.) 



Health Requirements for Rural Schools, 

147. 
Health supervision, 130 S. 
Herbart, 215, 385. 
Historical knowledge, demand for, 

362. 
History, 413 ; function of, 360 ; social 

rather than political, 359 ; topics 

for, 363. 
History and civics, 359 ff. 
Holley, Charles Elmer, 62. 
Home conditions and elimination, 

162. 
Home influence in the school, 60 ff. 
Homogeneity in local units, 268. 
Horn, Ernest, 362. 
Home, H. H., 321, 419. 
Humanism, 354. 
Hygiene, 132. 

Ideals, and the course of study, 340 ; 
changing, 94 ; civic, 95 ; demo- 
cratic, 21, 107; development of, a 
test of method, 398 ; of children, 
208 ff. ; social, 28, 96; of the 
school, 34-57. 

Illiteracy, 123. 

Immigrant, assimilation of the, 119 ff. 

Individual and society, 35. 

Individual capacities, 331. 

Individual instruction, 410. 

Individualism, 222. 

Industrial education, meaning of, 373. 

Industrial organizations, influence of, 
73 ff. 

Industrial Revolution, 27. 

Infancy, significance of, 1. 

Initiative, 53 ff., 402. 

Instincts, relation to method, 389. 

Interest, 319. 

Intolerance, 46, 227. 

Isolation, 223, 228. 

Jefferson, Thomas, 24. 
Jessup, W. A., 310, 440, 443. 
Jewish education, 5 ff., 197. 
Johnston, Charles Hughes, 278, 280. 
Jones, A. J., 233. 

Judgment and the course of study, 
340. 



Junior high school, 163, 276 ff. ; defi- 
nition of, 278 ; rise of, 276. 
Justice, 55, 56. 

Kellogg, R. S., 248. 
Keyes, C. H., 131. 
Kilpatrick, W. H., 50. 
Kindergarten, 275. 
King, Irving, 221, 231. 
Knowledge, dissemination of, 114. 
Knowledge test of method, 396. 

Labor and capital, conflict between, 
76. 

Laboring class, influence of, 88 ; in- 
terest in education of, 75. 

Language, a social product, 157 ; 
formal phases of, 357 ff. 

Latm, 343. 

Laymen in education, 266, 338. 

Leaders, training of, 30. 

Leadership, 227. 

Legislation, special, 263. 

Leipziger, Henry M., 233, 235. 

Leisure, profitable use of, 224. 

Literary element, 353 ff. 

Literature, definition of, o54 ; func- 
tion of, 355 ; selection of, 356. 

Local needs and the course of study, 
337. 

Loyalty, 448. 

Luther, Martin, 18. 

Lutheran schools, 291. 

McDougall, Wm., 38. 
McMurry, Frank, 397, 399. 
Macrae, Euphan W., 301. 
Mandeville, Bernard, 115. 
Manual training, 376. 
Massachusetts, education in, 25, 269. 
Mathematics, 365 ; modification of 

course through social pressure, 367 ; 

social need of, 366 ; two types in 

school, 365. 
Maxwell, William H., 138. 
Medical inspection, 140 ff. 
Method, Chapter XIV ; definition 

of, 387 ; factors determining, 387 

ff. ; nature of, 383 ff. ; types of, 

409. 



468 



Index 



{References are to pages.) 



Military tradition in school organi- 
zation, 272. 

Military training, 136. 

Monastic school, 15. 

Monitorial system, 26, 433. 

Monroe, Paul, 8, 10. 

Montessori, Maria, 49, 386. 

Moore, E. C, 347. 

Moral education, 199 ff. ; meaning 
of, 201 ; relation of methods and 
discipline to, 212 ff. ; the school as 
an agency of, 202 ff. 

Moral environment, 205. 

Morley's definition of literature, 354. 

Music school, the Greek, 9. 

Narrow content of education, 339. 

National defense, school as a means 
of, 31. 

National needs and the course of 
study, 337. 

Naturalism in education, 20. 

New Atlantis, 104. 

New York City, 424 ; Board of Edu- 
cation, report on vocational guid- 
ance, 170 ; School Inquiry, 71 ; 
Teachers' Council, 447. 

New York State, education in, 26, 257. 

North Central Association of Colleges 
and Secondary Schools, 435. 

Occupational choices of boys, 323. 

Open-air schools, 137 ff. 

Organization, 205 ; as a social prob- 
lem, 253 ff. ; of the American 
school, 256 ff. ; of the school, 272 
ff. ; problems of local, 266 ff. 

Oriental education, 3 ff. 

Originality, 402. 

Outlook, The, 121. 

Palestra, 9. 

Palmer, A. Emerson, 89. 

Parent-teacher associations, 64. 

Parochial schools, 352. 

Parsons, Frank, 179. 

Past culture and the course of study, 

333. 
Patriotism, 361. 
Pauper class, influence of, 89. 



Pennsylvania, education in, 26. 
Pensions for teachers, 441. 
Perry, C. A., 235, 240. 
Pestalozzi, 385. 

Pestalozzianism, spread of, 92. 
Philanthropic societies, influence on 

schools, 69. 
Philosophical school, the, 11, 12. 
Physical training, 134. 
Plato, 326, 329, 411. , 
Political organization in schools, 273. 
Poverty, relation of the school to, 

124. 
Presbyterian Church (Southern), 

schools of, 291. 
Present social activities and the 

course of study, 333. 
Private education, extent of, 290 ff. 
Private schools, 75, 287 ff. ; classes 

of people reached by, 293 ; dangers 

of, 298; inferior work of, 301; 

meaning of the term, 287 ; reasons 

for the existence of, 288 ; scope of 

work of, 294 ; state supervision of, 

310 ; value of, 295. 
Professional ideals, 448. 
Progress, 297 ; desire for, 405 ; social, 

and the school, 32. 
Protection of childhood, means and 

methods of, 132 ff. 
Protective agency, the school as a, 

129 ff. 
Protestant denominations, schools of, 

291. 
Psychological factor in method, 389. 
Psychological tendency, 28, 385. 
Public education associations, 71. 
Public esteem, a reward of teaching, 

445. 
Public lectures, 233. 
Public opinion, influence of, 83 ff. 
Pugnacity, 391. 

Radicalism, 325. 

Recreation centers, 235. 

Reform, social, school as a means of, 

32. 
Reformation, schools of, 18. 
Religion, 347 ff. ; as an important 

social force, 352. 



Index 



469 



{References are to pages.) 



Religious conception of life, 94. 

Religious instinct, 195. 

Religious leaders, training of, 296. 

Renaissance, the, 17. 

Responsibility, 52, 404. 

Retardation. 151, 152 ff. 

Rhetorical school, 11, 12. 

Robinson, James Harvey, 360. 

Rochester, N. Y., 120, 236, 279. 

Roman Catholic attitude toward edu- 
cation, 288. 

Roman Catholic schools, 291. 

Roman schools, 12. 

Ross, E. A., 81, 99, 191. 

Rousseau, J. J., 49, 314, 316. 

Rural community, special needs of, 
226. 

Rural district, the, 268. 

Rural education, 434. 

Rural school, the, 93, 247 ; influence 
of the vocational idea upon, 378. 

Salary, as a means of attracting 
talent, 440 ; of teachers, 430 ff. 

Sanitation, schoolhouse, 145 ff. 

Scholasticism, 15. 

School administration, 74, 80, 84. 

School cottages, 247 ff. 

School organization. See Organi- 
zation. 

School, origin of, 1 ff. ; social concep- 
tion of, 30 ff. 

Schools, kinds of, 254; of the courts 
and nobility, 17. 

School spirit, 205. 

Schurman, President J. G., 105. 

Sears, J. B., 323. 

Sectarianism, 300, 352; and the 
course of study, 350. 

Secularization of education, 65. 

Secular schools, 16. 

Selective agency, school as a, 150 ff. 

Select schools, 298. 

Self-government, 215. 

Selfishness, professional, 263. 

Sex hygiene, 134. 

Sex of teachers, relation to elimina- 
tion, 160. 

Sheedy, Morgan M., 288. 

Small. W. S., 144. 



Smith, W. R., 383. 

Snedden, David, 253. 

Snobbery, 298. 

Sociability, 38 ff. 

Social classes from which teachers 
are recruited, 421. 

Social classes, influence of, 86 ff. 

Social differences, influence of, 90. 

Social environment, 231. 

Social ideals, influence of, 93 ff. 

Social interpretation of the curricu- 
lum, 407. 

Social needs, 331. 

Social progress, 102. 

Social reform, 122 ff. 

Social spirit, cultivation of, 399. , 

Social standards, application to cur- 
riculum, 407. 

Socialized recitation, 412. 

Socializing the individual, 109 ff. 

Society, meaning of, 59 ; nature of, a 
factor in method, 393. 

Socrates, 406. 

Socratic method, 411. 

Spartan education, 197. 

Spelling, 358. 

Standards, minimal, 264 ; social, for 
judging method, 396 ff. 

State control of education, 20. 

Strayer, G. D., 165. 

Strayer and Thorndike, 161. 

Subject matter, a factor in method, 
387 ; nature and origin, 308 ; prin- 
ciples of selection, 325. 

Sunday Schools, 67, 351. 

Supervision, local, 269 ; relation of 
teacher to, 446. 

Surveys, and the course of study, 
337 ; and vocational guidance, 182. 

Suzzallo, Henry, 150. 

Taxation, 265. 

Teacher, the. Chapter XV, 245, 415 
ff. ; importance of, 217, 415 ; place 
in administration, 447 ; relation to 
appointive board, 446 ; relation to 
community, 450 ; relation to pupils, 
449 ; relation to the school system, 
445 ff. ; social education of, 437 
ff. 



470 



Index 



{References are to pages.) 



Teachers, age of, 426 ; amount of 
training, 428 ; family income, 422 ; 
kind of preparation, 433 ff . ; lan- 
guage of parents, 422 ; length of 
service, 427 ; quality of, 260 ; 
salaries of, 430 ff. ; selection of, 439 
ff. ; sex of, 425 ; size of parents' 
families, 423 ; social classes from 
which recruited, 421. 

Teachers' licenses, 13. 

Teaching population, characteristics 
of, 424 ff. 

Teaching profession, 451. 

Tenney, A. A., 364. 

Thorndike, E. L., 431. 

Tolerance, 46 ff. 

Tradition, relation to method, 394 ; 
influence \of, 81 ff. 

Transfer of training, 213. 

Unity of spirit, 118. 
University, the Greek, 11 ; medieval, 
15 ; modern, 105 ff. ; state, 85. 



Values, school, 344 ; relative, and the 
course of study, 343. 

Vice, warfare of school against, 126. 

Virginia, colonial legislation on edu- 
cation, 375. 

Vocational Bureau of Boston, 179. 

Vocational education, meaning of, 372. 

Vocational guidance, definition of, 
169 ; difficulties and dangers, 183 ; 
means and methods, 177 ff. ; prob- 
lems of, 185 ff. 

Vocational material, 322. 

Vocational school, the, 255. 

Vocational subjects, 372. 

Vocational surveys, 182. 

Ward, E. J., 236. 

Washington, Booker, 323. 

Wealthy class, influence of, 87. 

Weaver, E. W., 179. 

WUe, Ira S., 132. 

Wirt, William, 68, 164, 280, 376. 

Xenophon, 379. 



